There is always more history to tell. Even in a subject as exhaustively covered as World War II, there is always more to tell.
Still, it's surprising when the unknown heroes include someone the Gestapo considered "the most dangerous of all Allied spies." Or, maybe not so surprising: Her name was Virginia Hall.
In "A Woman of No Importance," London journalist Sonia Purnell has written a riveting account of Hall's work as a ferociously courageous American spy, yet whose mother never quite forgave her for failing to marry a rich man.
Hall's flouting of womanly expectations was a path to her success, but also provoked a continuing challenge to her authority.
When a British intelligence division was struggling to find people "able to pursue a noble cause with piratical daring," no one considered women for the work, much less a secretary such as Hall.
Yet when she impressed an operative with her organizational skills and, more to the point, her utter fearlessness, she was sent to France as an American journalist, where she secretly coordinated the work of local Resistance leaders.
Perhaps her greatest cover was that she also was an amputee who'd lost most of her left leg in a hunting accident. With dry humor, she'd named her wooden leg Cuthbert.
Purnell's research is impressive, with extensive footnotes and a lengthy bibliography. And good thing, because the work of spies such as Virginia — Purnell calls her Virginia — is mind-boggling.
