A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy - 'Reads like a thriller' (Ben Macintyre)

Sonia Purnell

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'A METICULOUS HISTORY THAT READS LIKE A THRILLER' BEN MACINTYRE, TEN BEST BOOKS TO READ ABOUT WORLD WAR II

An astounding story of heroism, spycraft, resistance and personal triumph over shocking adversity.

'A rousing tale of derring-do' THE TIMES * 'Riveting' MICK HERRON * 'Superb' IRISH TIMES

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In September 1941, a young American woman strides up the steps of a hotel in Lyon, Vichy France. Her papers say she is a journalist. Her wooden leg is disguised by a determined gait and a distracting beauty. She is there to spark the resistance.

By 1942 Virginia Hall was the Gestapo's most urgent target, having infiltrated Vichy command, trained civilians in guerrilla warfare and sprung soldiers from Nazi prison camps. The first woman to go undercover for British SOE, her intelligence changed the course of the war - but her fight was still not over.

This is a spy history like no other, telling the story of the hunting accident that disabled her, the discrimination she fought and the secret life that helped her triumph over shocking adversity.

'A cracking story about an extraordinarily brave woman' TELEGRAPH

'Gripping ... superb ... a rounded portrait of a complicated, resourceful, determined and above all brave woman' IRISH TIMES

WINNER of the PLUTARCH AWARD FOR BEST BIOGRAPHY

***Sonia Purnell's new book KINGMAKER: PAMELA CHURCHILL HARRIMAN'S ASTONISHING LIFE OF SEDUCTION, INTRIGUE AND POWER is out now***

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Praise for A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy - 'Reads like a thriller' (Ben Macintyre)

  • Purnell's account of Hall's hectic, amphetamine-fuelled exploits never falters. It recalls Caroline Moorehead's wonderful book, Village of Secrets, but has an added touch of Ben Macintyre's brio ... A rousing tale of derring-do' - The Times, Book of the WeekSoon to be a film starring Daisy Ridley, Purnell's life of the SOE agent Virginia Hall is a cracking story about an extraordinarily brave woman - Telegraph Best Holiday Beach ReadsBrimming with moving tales of courage in the face of tyranny, this is a worthy tribute to an incredible figure - Sunday MirrorRiveting ... one of the most breath-taking stories yet told of female courage behind enemy lines ... An intimate and moving portrayal - Sarah Helm, author of If This Is A Woman and A Life In Secrets

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Sonia Purnell

Sonia Purnell

Sonia Purnell is a prize-winning and bestselling biographer, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, whose books have sold over 1 million copies in English worldwide. Her latest work, Kingmaker: Pamela Churchill Harriman's astonishing life of seduction, power & intrigue, was published to huge media acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Purnell is interested in setting the record straight on twentieth-century women whose lives have been overlooked, misrepresented or misunderstood by history, works that led to her recently being described as 'one of the most accomplished biographers of our time' (Liza Mundy). A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy, won the 2020 Plutarch Award for Best Biography and was a New York Times bestseller. Her book First Lady: The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill was a book of the year in the Daily Telegraph and Independent and was shortlisted for the Plutarch Award for Best Biography. Her first book, Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition, was longlisted for the Orwell prize.

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