A Woman of No Importance
The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Recommended by Elizabeth Taylor, and 1 others. See all reviewsRanked #3 in Grandparenting, Ranked #22 in French History — see more rankings.
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... more
Reviews and Recommendations
We've comprehensively compiled reviews of A Woman of No Importance from the world's leading experts.
Elizabeth Taylor During these challenging times, tales of resistance in World War II have found a receptive audience. In the case of Sonia Purnell’s biography, Americans are keen to read about our own countryman’s heroism.At the center of Purnell’s biography is socialite Virginia Hall of Baltimore, Maryland who had been shut out of the American diplomatic corps in the 1930s and stuck as a clerk in the State Department. Raised in affluence, she had learned to ride a horse, shoot, sail and cycle. An adventurous sort, she lost her leg below the knee in a hunting accident in Turkey. (True story: she shot herself... (Source)
Rankings by Category
A Woman of No Importance is ranked in the following categories:
- #74 in Espionage
- #94 in European History
- #74 in German History
- #57 in Historical Nonfiction
- #60 in Intelligence
- #89 in International Relations
- #97 in Modern History
- #98 in World History
- #57 in World War II
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