05017cam a2200589 i 4500 433388168 TxAuBib 20200205120000.0 181226s2019||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2018060359 9780735225299 073522529X 9781984877611 1984877615 40029076229 (OCoLC)1040189301 LBSOR/DLC eng rda DLC GK8 OCLCF YDX OCLCO ON8 IH9 UAP LEB OCLCO YDX WYG OCLCO OF9 BUR ILC OCLCO TCH COO OCLCO PAU EYM OCLCO VAX OCLCO MOZ OCLCO TOH OCLCO CNCGM NHP DYJ BDP OCLCO W8A XXWGB SVZ YUS YBM ZCU OCLCO NQN OCLCO TxAuBib rda Purnell, Sonia. A woman of no importance : the untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II / Sonia Purnell. Untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II. [New York, New York : Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2019. 352 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 24 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references (pages [317]-334) and index. The dream -- Cometh the hour -- My tart friends -- Good-bye to Dindy -- Twelve minutes, twelve men -- Honeycomb of spies -- Cruel mountain -- Agent most wanted -- Scores to settle -- Madonna of the mountains -- From the skies above -- The CIA years. "The never-before-told story of one woman's heroism that changed the course of the Second World War. In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." This spy was Virginia Hall, a young American woman--rejected from the foreign service because of her gender and her prosthetic leg--who talked her way into the spy organization dubbed Churchill's "ministry of ungentlemanly warfare," and, before the United States had even entered the war, became the first woman to deploy to occupied France. Virginia Hall was one of the greatest spies in American history, yet her story remains untold. Just as she did in Clementine, Sonia Purnell uncovers the captivating story of a powerful, influential, yet shockingly overlooked heroine of the Second World War. At a time when sending female secret agents into enemy territory was still strictly forbidden, Virginia Hall came to be known as the "Madonna of the Resistance," coordinating a network of spies to blow up bridges, report on German troop movements, arrange equipment drops for Resistance agents, and recruit and train guerilla fighters. Even as her face covered WANTED posters throughout Europe, Virginia refused order after order to evacuate. She finally escaped with her life in a grueling hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown, and her associates all imprisoned or executed. But, adamant that she had "more lives to save," she dove back in as soon as she could, organizing forces to sabotage enemy lines and back up Allied forces landing on Normandy beaches. Told with Purnell's signature insight and novelistic panache, A Woman of No Importance is the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war"-- Provided by publisher. Virginia Hall-- rejected from the foreign service because of her gender and her prosthetic leg-- became the first woman to deploy to occupied France, before the United States had even entered the war. At a time when sending female secret agents into enemy territory was still strictly forbidden, Hall coordinated a network of spies to blow up bridges, report on German troop movements, arrange equipment drops for Resistance agents, and recruit and train guerrilla fighters. The Gestapo considered her the most dangerous of all Allied spies. Purness tells the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war. -- adapted from jacket. 20200205. Goillot, Virginia 1906-1982. World War (1939-1945.) 1939-1945. Women spies United States Biography. Women spies. Spies United States Biography. Spies. Intelligence officers United States Biography. Intelligence officers. World War, 1939-1945 Secret service United States. World War, 1939-1945 Underground movements France. Secret service. Underground movements, War. BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women. HISTORY / Women. HISTORY / Europe / France. United States. France. Biographies. Biography. Purnell, Sonia, [New York, New York] : Viking, [2019] Woman of no importance.