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 Shortlisted for
the Plutarch Award for Best Biography of 2019 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 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.
