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

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

Creator
Author
Summary
"The little-known story of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the woman who headed the largest spy network in occupied France during World War II ... 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, 'even a lion would hesitate to bite.' 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."--Dust jacket
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxiv, 428 pages
Contents
  • 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 Léon 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
Isbn
9780812994766
Instance
Label
Madame Fourcade's secret war : the daring young woman who led France's largest spy network against Hitler
Title
Madame Fourcade's secret war
Title remainder
the daring young woman who led France's largest spy network against Hitler
Statement of responsibility
Lynne Olson
Title variation
Daring young woman who led France's largest spy network against Hitler
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"The little-known story of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the woman who headed the largest spy network in occupied France during World War II ... 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, 'even a lion would hesitate to bite.' 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."--Dust jacket
Biography type
individual biography
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Olson, Lynne
Dewey number
  • 940.54/8644092
  • B
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
  • portraits
Index
index present
LC call number
D810.S8
LC item number
O4765 2019
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Fourcade, Marie-Madeleine
  • Fourcade, Marie-Madeleine
  • World War (1939-1945)
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • Spies
  • Women spies
  • Spies
  • Women spies
  • Espionage, British
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • Espionage, British
  • Secret service
  • Spies
  • Underground movements, War
  • Women
  • Women spies
  • France
  • Great Britain
Label
Madame Fourcade's secret war : the daring young woman who led France's largest spy network against Hitler, Lynne Olson
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages [387]-405) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
  • cartographic image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
  • cri
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Contents
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 Léon 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
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxiv, 428 pages
Isbn
9780812994766
Lccn
2018049180
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, maps, portraits
System control number
(OCoLC)on1060184003
Label
Madame Fourcade's secret war : the daring young woman who led France's largest spy network against Hitler, Lynne Olson
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages [387]-405) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
  • cartographic image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
  • cri
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Contents
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 Léon 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
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
xxiv, 428 pages
Isbn
9780812994766
Lccn
2018049180
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, maps, portraits
System control number
(OCoLC)on1060184003

Subject

Genre

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