The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
January 15, 2019
A remarkable chronicle of a courageous woman who worked undercover for British and American intelligence in occupied France during World War II and had to fight for every ounce of recognition she deserved.Throughout this lively examination of the life of Virginia Hall (1906-1982), British biographer and journalist Purnell (Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill, 2015, etc.) shows how, if Hall had been a man, dropping undercover in and out of occupied Vichy, Paris, and Lyon, setting up safe houses, and coordinating couriers for the Resistance, she would now be as famous as James Bond. However, this daughter of a well-off Baltimore family, who attended Radcliffe and Barnard before finishing her education in Europe, dreamed of a career in the American Foreign Service--but over and over she was relegated to the secretary's desk. In 1933, a freak hunting accident in Turkey left her with an amputated left leg, a horrendous experience that only seemed to steel her resolve to live her life as she pleased. The outbreak of Nazi aggression in 1939 and subsequent invasion of France prompted Hall to volunteer to drive ambulances for the Service de Santé des Armées. Then, a fortuitous meeting with an agent of the Special Operations Executive, the fledgling British secret service, sealed her fate. Impressed by her courage, independence, and poise, the SOE tasked Hall with returning to occupied France to help coordinate the work of local Resistance leaders and future SOE agents. Her appointment, writes the author of her consistently fascinating subject, "was an outstanding act of faith in her abilities, which had for so long been belittled or ignored." Hall's daring efforts in the breakout of Resistance prisoners in the Vichy-run internment camp at Mauzac, in March 1942, was a stunning achievement considering the enormous danger of getting caught and tortured by the Gestapo. Later in the narrative, the author amply shows how her later CIA work was only grudgingly recognized and celebrated.Meticulous research results in a significant biography of a trailblazer who now has a CIA building named after her.
COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
February 18, 2019
British journalist Purnell (Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill) vividly resurrects an underappreciated hero and delivers an enthralling story of wartime intrigue. Virginia Hall, a spirited young woman from a once-wealthy Baltimore family, embarked on an overseas career as a clerk with the State Department in 1931 after finding that women were not welcome in the Foreign Service. Despite impressive work, she was barred from taking the diplomatic corps entrance exam for unexplained reasons. Two years later, a gunshot wound in a hunting accident cost her half of her left leg. Despite her disability, Hall drove ambulances for the French army after the war started. An undercover British agent noticed her, and she was hired by the Special Operations Executive to recruit Resistance workers in France. Posing as a newspaper reporter, Hall established a vast underground network that pushed back against the German invaders. In late 1942, with her cover blown, Hall escaped France via a dangerous trek across the Pyrenees to Spain. When the SOE refused to send her back to France, she joined the American Office of Strategic Services to facilitate D-Day operations. Though the broader contours of Hall’s story will be familiar to those who’ve read about wartime France, Purnell does a fine job of bringing Hall’s story to life. Fans of WWII history and women’s history will be riveted. Illus.
Starred review from February 15, 2019
The large cast of characters and nuanced detail in this exceptional true story require close attention, but the payoff for readers is tenfold. Purnell (Clementine, 2016) shines a spotlight on Virginia Hall, an American woman, by recounting her unprecedented heroism in WWII. An accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound cost Hall her leg. Even so, she hiked through the Pyrenees with a wooden prosthetic to escape Nazis who considered her a dangerous spy and top target for capture. Stories like this one layer on top of each other in a seemingly endless display of bravery. As part of the Resistance in France, Hall masterminded the prison escape of 12 agents, developed the tactics that would bloom into successful guerilla warfare, and cultivated a network of spies so effective that her superiors said progress in France would have been impossible without her. During her lifetime, Virginia's gender and her wooden leg were used as excuses to dismiss and undervalue her. Purnell's writing is as precise and engaging as her research, and this book restores overdue attention to one of the world's great war heroes. It's a joy to read, and it will swell readers' hearts with pride.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
March 1, 2019
In her latest work, journalist Purnell (Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill) examines the life of Virginia Hall (1906-82), an American woman who became an Office of Strategic Services (OSS) spy in occupied France in World War II, despite being originally turned down for U.S. Foreign Service because of her gender and prosthetic leg. In the face of this rejection, she traveled to England, joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE), and was deployed to France. There she became a master of disguises, recruiting sprawling spy networks and directing guerilla operations. When America joined the war effort and began looking for qualified OSS operatives, Hall moved over to the new spy agency. Even then, it took months of background checks for her to be allowed into CIA headquarters. Her 14-year career with the CIA saw her rise to the highest rank open to women--one of only five women in covert operations to do so at the time. VERDICT Purnell's work is well researched, fast paced, and gives a captivating look at one of World War II's unsung heroes. This will interest readers intrigued by the history of espionage as well as women's and military history. [See Prepub Alert, 10/29/18.]--Crystal Goldman, Univ. of California, San Diego Lib.
Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 1, 2019
Her gender and prosthetic leg kept Virginia Hall out of the U.S. foreign service, but she wrested her way into Winston Churchill's famously break-the-rules Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and became the first woman deployed to occupied France. Eventually, the Gestapo called her the most dangerous of Allied spies. From the author of the best-booked Clementine.
Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 15, 2019
A remarkable chronicle of a courageous woman who worked undercover for British and American intelligence in occupied France during World War II and had to fight for every ounce of recognition she deserved.Throughout this lively examination of the life of Virginia Hall (1906-1982), British biographer and journalist Purnell (Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill, 2015, etc.) shows how, if Hall had been a man, dropping undercover in and out of occupied Vichy, Paris, and Lyon, setting up safe houses, and coordinating couriers for the Resistance, she would now be as famous as James Bond. However, this daughter of a well-off Baltimore family, who attended Radcliffe and Barnard before finishing her education in Europe, dreamed of a career in the American Foreign Service--but over and over she was relegated to the secretary's desk. In 1933, a freak hunting accident in Turkey left her with an amputated left leg, a horrendous experience that only seemed to steel her resolve to live her life as she pleased. The outbreak of Nazi aggression in 1939 and subsequent invasion of France prompted Hall to volunteer to drive ambulances for the Service de Sant� des Arm�es. Then, a fortuitous meeting with an agent of the Special Operations Executive, the fledgling British secret service, sealed her fate. Impressed by her courage, independence, and poise, the SOE tasked Hall with returning to occupied France to help coordinate the work of local Resistance leaders and future SOE agents. Her appointment, writes the author of her consistently fascinating subject, "was an outstanding act of faith in her abilities, which had for so long been belittled or ignored." Hall's daring efforts in the breakout of Resistance prisoners in the Vichy-run internment camp at Mauzac, in March 1942, was a stunning achievement considering the enormous danger of getting caught and tortured by the Gestapo. Later in the narrative, the author amply shows how her later CIA work was only grudgingly recognized and celebrated.Meticulous research results in a significant biography of a trailblazer who now has a CIA building named after her.
COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.