A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 23,298 ratings

Price: 17.72

Last update: 03-18-2025


About this item

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

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

“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.


Top reviews from the United States

  • anne
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great True Story!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2024
    I found it ironic that I am reading this wonderful true story about this heroine at the same time as headlines are saying our new Secretary of Defense wants to oust women from the military. Hegseth needs to read this story of how a woman made a real difference in the allies win in WWII and was braver and smarter than almost all of the men she worked with.
    Wonderfully written, inspiring and informative! Great book, highly recommend.
  • D. Workman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2025
    What a remarkable woman and story! This is a must read if you're interested in World War II or brave women.
  • Gary Moreau, Author
    4.0 out of 5 stars The greatest WW II spy few have heard of
    Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2020
    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.
  • Nancy S. Graham
    5.0 out of 5 stars True story but what a thriller.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2025
    This story tops Nancy Drake anytime. More suspense - more danger and more dedication to continue fighting on the spy level. Virginia Hall is an unknown hero and Sonja Purnell does a terrifc job of potraying her life.
  • CO Sunrise
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing work by an amazing woman
    Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2025
    Women are very capable when allowed to be. Here is one woman who made such a difference in WW2 but I'm only now stumbling across her incredible story. She should be being discussed in history classes at school but the male hierarchy won't allow that, I'm sure.

    It's great to read "real" history instead of the fake, glossed over versions that are published in school textbooks.
  • Dar
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing woman!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2024
    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!
  • Ella Mc
    4.0 out of 5 stars Thanks for bringing yet another unsung female hero to light
    Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2024
    I may end up having heart problems due to secondary frustration on behalf of the many women who risked so much and were rewarded with nothing but jealousy. Virginia Hall seems slightly different in, at the very least, her enduring supporters.
    Purnell has done a fabulous job pulling together loads of disparate strings, but occasionally one wonders if her imagination (and the fact that everyone else seems to want to diminish Hall) has pushed this book just a touch over the top. I note this tendency in almost every book devoted to just one of the many heroes of this period, not least every single man who wrote his own praise, but it's hard to find the truth in history. (Which is why we humbly ask our governments to keep good records, despite what the politicians might prefer.)
    In any case the story of Virginia Hall is more than worthwhile and long overdue. Despite constant frustration, she seems to have been a woman able to do the next right thing even when almost everyone tried to stop her.
    Thank you to the lovely French people who kept the flame burning long enough that finally some American came looking. Well done.
  • Mimi
    3.0 out of 5 stars Great story but just a little too much
    Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2022
    Sonia Purnell, kudos to you for taking on the story of Virginia Hall. The story is fascinating, and I am in awe of the amount of research it took to write this book. There is always so much more to learn about WWII. I feel guilty giving this book only 3 stars but here is why: it is just too many people, too many places, somewhat dry, too much detail and it kind of rambles. I found it hard to follow and by 30% started skimming the chapters. I would have enjoyed knowing more about her life once she returned home.

    If I were Sonia, or her publisher, I would take the same terrific body of information and turn it in to a really interesting biography. Slim it down, make it a story and more people will love it. I felt the same way about David McCullough’s Path Between the Seas about the Panama Canal. It is a great wealth of information but just too much. I felt like I had a PhD in Panama Canal when I was done. It was more than I really wanted or needed to know. Just my humble opinion.

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