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Lonely Courage: The true story of the SOE heroines who fought to free Nazi-occupied France by [Rick Stroud]

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Rick Stroud

Lonely Courage: The true story of the SOE heroines who fought to free Nazi-occupied France Kindle Edition

by Rick Stroud (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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‘A fascinating, superbly researched and revelatory book – told with tremendous pace and excitement’ William Boyd
‘Rick Stroud writes brilliantly about war … an astonishing book … a wonderful story’ Ben Macintyre
'Enthralling, edge-of-smart exciting and also heart-breaking...Stroud's book is a reminder and fitting testimony to their immense bravery' James Holland

On 18 June 1940 General de Gaulle broadcast from London to his countrymen in France about the catastrophe that had overtaken their nation – the victory of the invading Germans. He declared: ‘The flame of French Resistance must not and will not be extinguished.' The Resistance began almost immediately. At first it was made up of small, disorganised groups working in isolation. But by the time of the liberation in 1944 around 400,000 French citizens, nearly 2 per cent of the population, were involved.

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) set up by Winston Churchill in 1941 saw its role in France as helping the Resistance by recruiting and organising guerrilla fighters; supplying and training them; and then disrupting the invaders by any means necessary. The aim of this work was to prepare for the invasion of Europe by Allied forces and the eventual liberation of France. It was soon decided that women would play a vital role.

There were 39 female agents recruited from all walks of life, ranging from a London shop assistant to a Polish aristocrat. They all knew France well, were fluent in French and were prepared to sacrifice everything. The women trained alongside the men, learning how to disappear into the background, how to operate a radio transmitter and how to kill a man with their bare hands. Once trained, they were infiltrated behind the lines; some went on to lead thousands of Resistance fighters, while others were arrested, brutally interrogated and sent to concentration camps.

Lonely Courage tells their remarkable story and sheds new light on what life was really like for these brave women.

Print length

349 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster UK
Publication date

23 Feb. 2017
File size

37207 KB
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Review

‘A fascinating, superbly researched and revelatory book – told with tremendous pace and excitement’ -- William Boyd

‘This compelling and complete account of the extraordinarily courageous women of SOE is at turns enthralling, edge-of-the-seat exciting and also heart-breaking. The way in which they were sent into Nazi-occupied Europe and left to face unspeakable danger remains astonishing and Stroud's book is a reminder and fitting testimony to their immense bravery’ -- James Holland

‘Stroud has a storyteller’s eye for human detail matched with a researcher’s diligence.’

― Independent on Sunday

‘Each of the lives that Stroud relates so well offers a shining example of heroism – dauntless, patriotic readiness to risk everything for the cause of human decency.’ -- Nigel Jones ― Sunday Telegraph

‘In this superb book, Rick Stroud honours their awe-inspiring bravery and self-sacrifice by telling their stories with an historian’s attention to detail and a novelist’s empathy and sense of drama… it is a pacy chronological account… vividly and concisely delivered by a writer with an encyclopaedic knowledge of World War Two.’ -- Rebecca McQuillan ― The Herald

‘Written with genuine vigour, this book pays tribute to truly outstanding female bravery...this is a book that lingers in the mind long after the last page’ -- Elizabeth Fitzherbert ― The Lady

'A gripping narrative' -- Marcus Binney ― Country Life

'Fascinating ... a hugely engaging account, that weaves the women’s stories together with increasing momentum towards its poignant conclusion.’ -- Clare Mulley ― Spectator

'A timely and important book...we are in awe of their courage' -- Alan Ogden

'Superbly written' -- Elizabeth Buchan --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Rick Stroud is a producer, director and writer. His most recent book, Lonely Courage: The True Story of the SOE Heroines who Fought to Free Nazi-Occupied France (Simon & Schuster, 2017), has been optioned by Tessa Ross at House Productions and he is the author of several other books. He is a trustee of the London Library and lives in London. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01JZOSXIW
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster UK (23 Feb. 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 37207 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 349 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 233,111 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 72 in Military History of Guerrilla Forces
- 645 in Military History of Military Intelligence & Espionage
- 1,021 in History of France

Customer reviews:
137 ratings

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Customer reviews

5 star		66%
4 star		25%
3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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Janie

Sheer Heroism

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 January 2019

Verified Purchase

An amazing account of some incredible women. Having been to the Vercors and also visited the site of the camp at Natzweiler, I could see in my mind what Rick was describing. The fate of the 4 women in the camp was particularly horrific. As many reviewers, I am amazed and the inefficiency and stupidity of running things back in London. If they'd listened, many would probably have survived the war. I don't agree with those who criticise the time line as being confusing. I found it easy enough to follow as it allows for the story to flow, clarifying why some of the women ended up together. Writing something like this would never be easy and the research was thorough. It broke my heart in places, annoyed and angered me at the inhumanity inflicted and dishonesty of others.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Retired Seaside Reader

Important history retold in an excellent and readable book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 August 2019

Verified Purchase

Though I knew some of the history of those incredibly brave men and women in the SOE, this book 'Lonely Courage' is so well written that somehow I was able to enter into their actions and their trials and tribulations. I certainly a lot more about the agents that are depicted in this book. It is a book that should be recommended to everyone, particularly those who have any doubts of the history of the Second World War and the atrocities that were carried out. It is a shame that the book had to be written, but history needs to be told so maybe some of the things are not repeated. An excellent read.

3 people found this helpful

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kylielovescake

Not what i had hoped

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 August 2017

Verified Purchase

I brought this book after hearing the Guilty Feminist podcast that Rick Stroud appeared on. I love the idea of the book, and it was well presented on the podcast but I found the story to be difficult to follow, with the agents and others popping up all over the place and a slightly muddled timeline. It would have been easier to follow if the story of each agent had been told separately. I gave up half way through out of frustration.

11 people found this helpful

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Neville A White

Thorough but a little disjointed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 August 2018

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed the subject matter, and it was clearly excellently researched. The women involved in the SOE were clearly remarkable. The author decided to take a historical view, and this meant there was a lot of jumping around between stories which I found confusing and disjointed. There was a point in the middle were I felt I was finding out more about the German successes than the SOE efforts, and I was disappointed to read of the security failings of the brass back home. Some of these women died horrible deaths which are not glossed over, so anyone who doesn’t like gory details may want to be cautious.

4 people found this helpful

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Auntie HD

Good overview of these brave women

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2020

Verified Purchase

I have already read a number of books about the SOE so many of the names were familiar to me, but I found this a good read (and a sobering one for a variety of reasons, not just the bravery of the women but the rather chaotic management of the project by, predictably, men). It has introduced me to some operatives that I had only heard of previously, and provided me with a number of other book titles to read which I shall enjoy exploring.

One person found this helpful

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Algie

True Heroins All

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 April 2017

Verified Purchase

The author keeps the pace up throughout as though writing a novel. The case of the courageous Noor Khan is particularly heart-rending. Buckmaster is part of a long British tradition of putting a thoroughly incompetent chinless wonder in charge of the lives of others. Needless to say being British he was rewarded for his failure by being made an OBE.

11 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Deeply moving.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 February 2019

Verified Purchase

Well written and researched. These brave, brave ladies gave so much to outwit and disrupt the Nazis in occupied France, most of them paying the ultimate price after enduring horrific torture. They should never be forgotten, we owe them all so much. A recommended read.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Crinno

Hard to follow the individual heroines stories

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 September 2019

Verified Purchase

This book would have been better if the individual heroines stories had been told separately. I appreciated the intention to honour these brave women, but found the the constant flipping from one agent to the other and back again irritating and hard to follow.

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Rick Stroud

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