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Madame Fourcade's secret war : the daring young woman who led France's largest spy network against Hitler / Lynne Olson.

Olson, Lynne, (author.).

Summary:

In 1941 a thirty-one-year-old Frenchwoman, a young mother born to privilege and known for her beauty and glamour, became the leader of a vast intelligence organization-the only woman to serve as a chef de résistance during the war. Strong-willed, independent, and a lifelong rebel against her country's conservative, patriarchal society, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was temperamentally made for the job. Her group's name was Alliance, but the Gestapo dubbed it Noah's Ark because its agents used the names of animals as their aliases. The name Marie-Madeleine chose for herself was Hedgehog: a tough little animal, unthreatening in appearance, that, as a colleague of hers put it, ٢even a lion would hesitate to bite.٣ No other French spy network lasted as long or supplied as much crucial intelligence-including providing American and British military commanders with a 55-foot-long map of the beaches and roads on which the Allies would land on D-Day-as Alliance. The Gestapo pursued them relentlessly, capturing, torturing, and executing hundreds of its three thousand agents, including Fourcade's own lover and many of her key spies. Although Fourcade, the mother of two young children, moved her headquarters every few weeks, constantly changing her hair color, clothing, and identity, she was captured twice by the Nazis. Both times she managed to escape-once by slipping naked through the bars of her jail cell-and continued to hold her network together even as it repeatedly threatened to crumble around her. Now, in this dramatic account of the war that split France in two and forced its people to live side by side with their hated German occupiers, Lynne Olson tells the fascinating story of a woman who stood up for her nation, her fellow citizens, and herself.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780812994766
  • ISBN: 0812994760
  • ISBN: 9780812985030
  • Physical Description: xxiv, 428 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
  • Edition: First edition
  • Publisher: New York : Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, [2019]

Content descriptions

General Note:
Publisher, dates, and paging may vary.
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 401-405) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Prologue, 1936-1942 -- Leaping into the unknown -- The chaos of defeat -- Fighting back -- Spying in Marseille -- The birth of alliance -- Danger in Paris -- Taking command -- A network in peril -- The mailbag -- The return of Leon Faye -- A game of wits -- "An undisputed leader" -- "Sitting on a barrel of gunpowder" -- The traitor -- A general escapes -- Captured -- Operation Attila -- "Down go the U-boats" -- 1943-1944 -- On the run -- The tinderbox of Lyon -- High anxiety -- "Here you are at last!" -- "The most remarkable girl of her generation" -- Pink heather -- Calamity -- Captives -- The map -- Going home -- 1944-1945 -- Caught in the net -- Liberation and beyond -- "Hail Mary, full of grace" -- The road to Gethsemane -- Epilogue.
Subject:
Fourcade, Marie-Madeleine, 1909-1989.
World War, 1939-1945 > Secret service > France > Biography.
Spies > France > Biography.
Women spies > France > Biography.
Spies > Great Britain > Biography.
Women spies > Great Britain > Biography.
Espionage, British > France > History > 20th century.
World War, 1939-1945 > Secret service > Great Britain > Biography.
World War, 1939-1945 > Underground movements > France.
World War, 1939-1945 > Women > France.
Genre:
Biographies.

Available copies

  • 49 of 50 copies available at NC Cardinal.
  • 1 of 1 copy available at McDowell County Public Library. (Show)

Holds

  • 1 current hold with 50 total copies.
Sort by distance from:
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Marion Library BIO FOU (Text) 37810435749717 Adult Biography Available -
Andrews Public Library B FOURCADE (Text) 80605000772565 Adult Biography Available -
Angier Public Library B FOURCADE Ols (Text) 33632002689215 Adult Biography Available -
Avery County Morrison Public Library NFIC 940.54 OLS (Text) 31111003012901 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Black Mountain Library 940.548644 OLS (Text) 0020512204031 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Braswell Memorial Main Library B FOURCADE (Text) 37807000009293 Adult Biography Available -
Charles H. Stone Memorial Library B FOURCADE (Text) 40599001065658 Adult Biography Available -
Cleveland County Main Library B FOURCADE (Text) 22281500140505 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Columbus Library 940.548 OLS (Text) 31250200071356 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Eden Library B Fourcade (Text) 31554010502267 Adult Nonfiction Available -

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24510. ‡aMadame Fourcade's secret war : ‡bthe daring young woman who led France's largest spy network against Hitler / ‡cLynne Olson.
24630. ‡aDaring young woman who led France's largest spy network against Hitler
250 . ‡aFirst edition
264 1. ‡aNew York : ‡bRandom House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, ‡c[2019]
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500 . ‡aPublisher, dates, and paging may vary.
504 . ‡aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 401-405) and index.
5050 . ‡aPrologue, 1936-1942 -- Leaping into the unknown -- The chaos of defeat -- Fighting back -- Spying in Marseille -- The birth of alliance -- Danger in Paris -- Taking command -- A network in peril -- The mailbag -- The return of Leon Faye -- A game of wits -- "An undisputed leader" -- "Sitting on a barrel of gunpowder" -- The traitor -- A general escapes -- Captured -- Operation Attila -- "Down go the U-boats" -- 1943-1944 -- On the run -- The tinderbox of Lyon -- High anxiety -- "Here you are at last!" -- "The most remarkable girl of her generation" -- Pink heather -- Calamity -- Captives -- The map -- Going home -- 1944-1945 -- Caught in the net -- Liberation and beyond -- "Hail Mary, full of grace" -- The road to Gethsemane -- Epilogue.
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