Love And War In The Pyrenees: A Story Of Courage, Fear And Hope, 1939-1944 [Paperback]

'Fascinating... courage, cruelty, heroism and the truth about both resistance and collaboration are revealed in a work that brilliantly reconstructs a past that is still contested.' (WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY )

'Bailey renders history personal and so brings it to life.' (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

'Combining memoir, fact and storytelling, Bailey does an impressive job.' (INDEPENDENT )

'Part travel book, part history, part persnoal memoir, this is a gripping read.' (NORTHERN ECHO )

"Her style of writing adds colour, depth and personality to what could otherwise be a dark subject matter... not only an interesting read... fascinating." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

"impossible to put down... fascinating --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

"the tales of derring-do in Rosemary Bailey's latest book would not be out of place in a Boy's Own adventure story... thorough, thought-provoking and at times deeply disturbing account of the impact of the Second World War on the villages and towns of the Pyrenees... a quiet truimph of historical reconstruction." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

"important that Rosemary Bailey's investigative work reaches as wide an audience as possible... stories are told fluently in Bailey's fluid, evocative prose, in which historical facts merge seamlessly with travel memoirs and personal recollections."

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Over the fifteen years Rosemary has been living in the region, the more she realised she didn't know about the war; about the French during the Occupation, the real role of the Resistance, the level of collaboration, the concentration camps in the Pyrenees and the treatment of Jews and other refugees. It is still very much a veiled history and most of the archives remain firmly closed. LOVE AND WAR IN THE PYRENEES is a portrait of human tragedy, heroism and cruelty that will create a picture of the period from a contemporary angle, the history linked to sights that can still be visited, and brought to life by letters, interviews and encounters with people today, including the historians currently trying to investigate what really happened.

Rosemary Bailey was born in Yorkshire. She studied English and Philosophy and worked as a journalist and travel writer, living for several years in New York before basing herself in France. In 1989, Rosemary and her husband set up home in the French Pyrenees, and bought a ruined Romanesque monastery which they restored. They have one son.