2024 the best spy agency in the world review

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A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Chosen as a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by NPR, the New York Public Library, Amazon, the Seattle Times, the Washington Independent Review of Books, PopSugar, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, BookBrowse, the Spectator, and the Times of London

Winner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography

“Excellent…This book is as riveting as any thriller, and as hard to put down.” -- The New York Times Book Review

"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

"A meticiulous history that reads like a thriller." - Ben Macintyre

A never-before-told story of Virginia Hall, the American spy who changed the course of World War II, from the author of Clementine.

In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her."

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.

Virginia established vast spy networks throughout France, called weapons and explosives down from the skies, and became a linchpin for the Resistance. Even as her face covered wanted posters and a bounty was placed on her head, Virginia refused order after order to evacuate. She finally escaped through a death-defying hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown. 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.

Based 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. A Woman of No Importance is the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war.

From the Publisher

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Reprint edition (March 24, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0735225311
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0735225312
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.42 x 0.82 x 8.36 inches
Reviewer: Dar
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Amazing woman!
Review: Virginia Hall's accomplishments during WWII helped to influence the outcome of many decisive battles, leading to the demise of the corrupt Vichy government in France and the liberation of Paris. This well researched history goes into depth to portray the many obstacles she overcame, while reading like an adventure book! So enlightening, highly recommend!

Reviewer: Larry G
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Captivating read if you like non fiction
Review: I found this book to be excellent, spellbinding. I had trouble putting it down. This is one of the best books about WW2 that I have ever read.I highly recommend it. Especially in kindle format with the built in dictionary!! Very Handy!!!

Reviewer: Gary Moreau, Author
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The greatest WW II spy few have heard of
Review: An American of privileged birth, Virginia Hall, a name few of us learned in school, was not only there at the birth of the British secret service and the CIA, but helped to shape them in ways that endure yet today. And she did so despite a prosthetic foot and the fact that she was a woman, a gender initially considered by both organizations as unfit for both battle and intelligence fieldwork.She proved both institutions and the men who ran them wrong, becoming one of the most successful spies of World War II. Starting as an ambulance driver who charged through the throngs of French refugees fleeing the German invasion in order to recover injured French soldiers, she went on to become a key player in the development of the French Resistance that played such a critical role in the Allied success following the invasion of Normandy.She played many roles. She recruited; distributed supplies, money, and weapons; she organized escape routes for compromised spies and downed pilots; she provided critical intelligence to the RAF and American Army Air Force; provided intelligence on enemy troop strength and movement to Allied headquarters; and ultimately organized and carried out sabotage missions and outright military assaults, commanding the resistance troops that were the first to liberate areas of France outside of Normandy.Perhaps her greatest strength and contribution, however, was her ability to gain the confidence and trust of an army of potentially helpful people, from prostitutes to police chiefs. And, as time went on, her ability to avoid capture.She was resourceful to be sure. And brave. And relentlessly focused and hard working. And, it appears, she focused not just on proving that a woman could fulfill a role they were previously excluded from, but her love of France, an attraction to thrill and danger, and an unyielding desire to contribute.It would be perhaps misleading to say that she was a pioneer for gender equality since today, more than half a century later, gender equality is far from a completed reality. Any more than racial equality has been truly realized. Unfortunately, as the world has gotten smaller, new forms of wealth inequality and ethnic discrimination have emerged.What has also emerged, however, is the recognition, for those willing to see, that discrimination of every kind, whether it’s racial, ethnic, or economic, is structural and institutional, not just attitudinal. She earned the trust and admiration of many male colleagues who came to know her. But individual attitudes and judgments are only the tip of the iceberg of discrimination.Discrimination of every stripe is ultimately built upon a foundation of structural institutional bias. It is an institutional bias built by prejudiced individuals, of course, but changing the individual does not automatically alter the institution. Power, once gained, is almost impossible to dislodge by individuals, however well meaning, unless the institutions that sustain their power are likewise altered.But I digress. Virginia, it seems, was not out to change institutions so much as she was out to save the France she loved, make a contribution, and achieve relevance. And she never let anything, including the patriarchal social structure of the era, stand in her way.But however you feel about equality, or the lack thereof, this is a splendid book, thoroughly researched, well written, and filled with suspense and jaw-dropping awe and inspiration.

Reviewer: Roni Batzion
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Absolutely first rate biography of Virginia Hall, American hero
Review: For anyone interested in World War II, the French resistance, and an American woman who literally changed the course of the war, this book is for you. Impeccably researched, beautifully written, it is a must for historians, students, professors, the military, or anyone interested in the Resistance of WW-II. I didn't know much about Virginia Hall, but she is memorialized in the Capitol as well as CIA headquarters. She was an amazing woman, but being female, well, need I say more? A "must read." For sure.

Reviewer: Steve Physioc
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: heroine
Review: Incredibly moving story. Despite little help from the male dominated Allied Intelligence agencies, Virginia Hall became a true hero in helping France defeat Nazism during WW2. Thank you Sonia!

Reviewer: Lelo
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An important book
Review: This book was enlightening. Excellent!

Reviewer: Laura Soller
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Solid book
Review: Victoria Hall’s life story is both interesting and inspirational. It is amazing to learn what she was able to accomplish. She was clearly a woman ahead of her time.

Reviewer: IAB
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very slow and confuu
Review: Usually I love books about WWII and have read many dealing with the French resistance. This one is a very slow and cumbersome read often seeming repetitive and at times boring. The characters, although real people, are never fully developed and I find I have very little invested in them. It is at times too technical and with so many changes of name and undercover names it’s easy to lose track of who’s who. Not an easy read and certainly it did not hold my interest. I’m still trying to get through it but slowly loosing interest. May be more suitable as a text book.

Reviewer: Verna Henderson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I am half way through this book and cannot put it down. Each page is full of suspense and all this from a woman who had lost part of a leg. Her accomplishments are well worth reading and the author did an excellent job telling this story. A great read, highly recommend.

Reviewer: Berengaria
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Cuando pedí el libro no conocía al personaje. Quedé sorprendida de lo valiente y dedicada que fue está mujer que vivió en las sombras. Muy bien escrito y ameno. Lo recomiendo ampliamente.

Reviewer: David E
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A really enjoyable read which sets out so well how Virginia Hall working for SOE and then the OSS managed to survive and outwit the occupation by the Germans of France in WW2. A true heroine of the resistance and an entertaining book.

Reviewer: Christine Boos
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: An excellent biography that reads as a novel! Not only do we learn about this exceptional woman who despite her wooden leg became an incredible spy, but also so much more beside!!!Virginia Hall had to fight against many odds, the first one being the fact that she was a woman in a spy world mostly run by men. This remained an obstacle most of her life, whether while in France and being extremely successful or after the war. Indeed war medals were not offered women....What I also loved about this book is that I learned about the difference between the SOE and M16, the CIA's first steps, the organisation (or lack of at the beginning of WWII!) of the resistance in France.The author has masterfully conveyed all dangers met by the resistants constantly coexisting with the deadly fear they lived with day and night. This story could have been a novel with a suspense enhanced by the numerous comments which have been collected. Extensive research has been done as shown in the pictures and bibliography at the end of the book. Highly recommended!

Reviewer: Nick Ransdale
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This true story of an American WW2 heroin tugs at the old heartstrings at times. Hopefully people still read books like this to remind us of the barbarity of the Nazi regime and the bravery of those that opposed it. One can't help thinking, as ever with such courageous women, that if she had been a man her name would be much more well-known. Thoroughly recommended.