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

Book Review: ‘A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II’
Virginia Hall of Special Operations Branch receiving the Distinguished Service Cross from Gen. Donovan in September 1945. CIA Official Website. Public Domain
Anita L. Sherman
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A British biographer and journalist, Sonia Purnell pored through documents in England and the United States for more than three years as well as conducting countless interviews to write the book “A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II.”

A credit to her craft, Purnell gives readers a riveting account of the life of Virginia Hall, an American would-be socialite turned spy who made her way through the espionage world—one largely dominated by men. She did so with brains, bravado, and a fierce loyalty to her friends, France, and freedom during the years leading up to World War II and in its aftermath.

Anita L. Sherman
Anita L. Sherman
Author
Anita L. Sherman is an award-winning journalist who has more than 20 years of experience as a writer and editor for local papers and regional publications in Virginia. She now works as a freelance writer and is working on her first novel. She is the mother of three grown children and grandmother to four, and she resides in Warrenton, Va. She can be reached at [email protected]
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