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A Woman of No Importance is the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war.Įditorial Review An Amazon Best Book of April 2019: In this fast-paced biography Sonia Purnell tells the story of Virginia Hall, an American spy who worked undercover in France during World War II for Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE). But she plunged back in, adamant that she had more lives to save, and led a victorious guerilla campaign, liberating swathes of France from the Nazis after D-Day.īased on new and extensive research, Sonia Purnell has for the first time uncovered the full secret life of Virginia Hall-an astounding and inspiring story of heroism, spycraft, resistance, and personal triumph over shocking adversity. She finally escaped through a death-defying hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown. Even as her face covered wanted posters and a bounty was placed on her head, Virginia refused order after order to evacuate. Virginia established vast spy networks throughout France, called weapons and explosives down from the skies, and became a linchpin for the Resistance. The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and-despite her prosthetic leg-helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it. In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. The never-before-told story of Virginia Hall, the American spy who changed the course of World War II, from the author of Clementine "A compelling biography of a masterful spy, and a reminder of what can be done with a few brave people - and a little resistance." - NPR “E xcellent…This book is as riveting as any thriller, and as hard to put down.” - The New York Times Book Review