Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler

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The dramatic true story of Marie Madeleine Fourcade codename Hedgehog the woman who headed the largest spy network in occupied France during World War II, from the New York Times bestselling author of Citizens of London and Those Angry Days.In 1941, a thirty one year old Frenchwoman born to privilege and known for her beauty and glamour became the leader of a vast Resistance organization the only woman to hold such a role Brave, 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 Marie Madeleine s codename was Hedgehog.No other French spy network lasted as long or supplied as much crucial intelligence as Alliance and as a result, the Gestapo pursued them relentlessly, capturing, torturing, and executing hundreds of its three thousand agents, including her own lover and many of her key spies Fourcade had to move her headquarters every week, constantly changing her hair color, clothing, and identity, yet was still imprisoned twice by the Nazis Both times she managed to escape, once by stripping naked and forcing her thin body through the bars of her cell The mother of two young children, Marie Madeleine hardly saw them during the war, so entirely engaged was she in her spy network, preferring they live far from her and out of harm s way In Madame Fourcade s Secret War, Lynne Olson tells the tense, fascinating story of Fourcade and Alliance against the background of the developing war that split France in two and forced its citizens to live side by side with their hated German occupiers. Read Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler – kino-fada.fr What a fascinating woman In a time when women barely held jobs, Marie Madeleine Fourcade ran the largest espionage ring in France during WWII.Olson does a fabulous job of giving you the background of the country that led to their poor showing when Germany invaded I had no idea of the political turmoil France was dealing with In fact, I learnedfrom this book about international politics leading up to the war than I ever knew before Olson also provides the necessary background on the Vic What a fascinating woman In a time when women barely held jobs, Marie Madeleine Fourcade ran the largest espionage ring in France during WWII.Olson does a fabulous job of giving you the background of the country that led to their poor showing when Germany invaded I had no idea of the political turmoil France was dealing with In fact, I learnedfrom this book about international politics leading up to the war than I ever knew before Olson also provides the necessary background ...starsMarie Madeleine was a 31 year old mother of two when she led the largest French spy network during the Nazi occupation Alliance, the name of the network, provided crucial intelligence to Britain s M16 Described by a colleague as the pivot around which everything turns She has the memory of an elephant, the cleverness of a fox, the guile of a serpent, the perseverance of a mole, and the fierceness of a panther Although hundreds of Alliance ag starsMarie Madeleine was a 31 year old mother of two when she led the largest French spy network during the Nazi occupation Alliance, the name of the network, provided crucial intelligence to Britain s M16 Described by a colleague as the pivot around which everything turns She has the memory of an elephant, the cleverness of a fox, the guile of a serpent, the perseverance of a mole, and the fierceness of a panther Although hundreds of Alliance agents were tortured and killed, Madame Fourcade s network saved thousands of Allied lives and shortened the hold of Hitler s grasp.I have never read ariveting nonfiction book The daring, courage and dedication to freedom shown by Marie Madeleine and her agents is mind boggling How she and those who survived could ever return to normalcy is beyond me She eventually does return to a life in her beloved France, although she initially had months maybe years of adjustment At first she had trouble remembering to use he real nam...Madame Fourcarde s Secret War is the story of a brave woman I ve noticed a trend of the stories about amazing women doing dangerous activities during WWII finally being told This Parisian woman ran an underground network to help the allied forces She was...I continue to be amazed at how much there is discover about the resilience and courage of ordinary people Those who took an active part in gathering and sharing information about the Germans during World War II were so fearless and bold They were not willing to stand by and let evil flourish Madame Fourcade defied all stereotypes to lead an organization that was vital to the Allies in their campaigns to defeat the Third Reich She was a true patriot in every sense of the word This is a great I continue to be amazed at how much there is discover about the resilience and courage of ordinary people Those who took an active part in gathering and sharing information about the Germans during World War II were so fearless and bold They...Madame Fourcade s Secret WarIncredible I am stunned, and staring still all of the unnamed, undiscussed, unwritten, unknown victims, bullies, heroes in that war There are no words.Halfway through I wanted to stop thinking about it To honor all, I continued.I hope we were all worth it I m glad for the chance to read, to know of this great effort A victory that must have felt an awful lot like a failure some days.If you haven t read this, and you are at all inclined, you should.5 stars Madame Fourcade s Secret WarIncredible I am stunned, and staring still all of the unnamed, undiscussed, unwritten, unknown victims, bullies, heroes in that war There are no words.Halfway through I wanted to stop thinking about it To honor all, I continued.I hope we were all worth it I m glad for the chance to read, to know of this great effort A victory that must have felt an awful lot like a failure some days.If you haven t read this, and you are at all inclined, you should.5 stars R...This book is an important addition to the literature about the resistance in France in WW2, such as the books written by M.R.D Foot, because it highlights a network and its leader who were largely written out of the history because a the network was founded by a former Vichy official Navarre , and b because its primary leader after Navarre s capture was a woman, Marie Madeleine Fourcade This is not Lynne Olson s writing at it s best, but if you are interested in the subject of the clandesti This book is an important addition to the literature about the resistance in France in WW2, such as the books written by M.R.D Foot, because it highlights a network and its leader who were largely written out of the history because a the network was founded by a former Vichy official Navarre , and b because its primary leader after Navarre s capture was a woman, Marie Madeleine Fourcade This is not Lynne Olson s writing at it s best, but if you are interested in the subject of the clandestine resistance work in France in WW2, this is a highly interesting addition to that history Ms Olson s always stellar research is on display again in this book She describes the infiltration of the U Boat bases on the French Atlantic coast by members of Fourcade s Alliance network, and how the intelligence provided by her agents played a huge role in the destruction of the U boat fleet Another of her agents drew a highly detailed map of the German defenses on the Normandy coast, and Fourcade s people g...Fascinating story about brave men and women from French resistance.The memory of an elephant, the cleverness of a fox, the guile of a serpent, and the fierceness of a panther Marie Madeleine Fourcaude ran the largest spy network in France during World War II Charismatic, organized, intelligent and completely fearless, she was possessed of such obvious leadership skills that even very traditional Frenchmen and a few Brits as well came to recognize and respect her authority and ability I had never heard of her before this galley became available thanks to The memory of an elephant, the cleverness of a fox, the guile of a serpent, and the fierceness of a panther Marie Madeleine Fourcaude ran the largest spy network in France during World War II Charismatic, organized, intelligent and completely fearless, she was possessed of such obvious l...Alliance, the largest and most effective French underground resistance network of WWII was headed and effectively run by a woman, a practice absolutely unheard of in 1940 That woman was Marie Madelain Fourcade Her code name was Hedgehog a tough little animal, unthreatening in appearance, that, as a colleague of hers put it, even a lion would hesitate to bite Marie Madelain set up a spiderweb of an alliance network recruiting agents, who then recruited agents Alliance soon covered France, g Alliance, the largest and most effective French underground resistance network of WWII was headed and effectively run by a woman, a practice absolutely unheard of in 1940 That woman was Marie Madelain Fourcade Her code name was Hedgehog a tough little animal, unthreatening in appearance, that, as a colleague of hers put it, even a lion would hesitate to bite Marie Madelain set up a spiderweb of an alliance network recruiting agents, who then recruited agents Alliance soon covered France, gathering information and photographic evidence and forwarding it to MI6 in London She recruited associates who were most trustworthy and a few as it turned out not so much Alliance was betrayed on several occasions resulting in the capture of many and the ultimate execution of many She herself was captured once which resulted in an absolutely harrowing escape.Alliance, as most of France, had difficulty knowing with absolute certainty who to follow politically, Charl...This is such an important story that of average people who reach the limits of what they find to be acceptable and undertake extraordinary tasks to put a stop to it I am fascinated by the boundary crossing that causes civilians to say, I will likely be tortured or killed for what I m about to do, but I believe in my cause so strongly that it s a risk I m willing to take The French Resistance was microscopic compared to the partisan guerrilla groups in many countries occupied by the Nazis, This is such an important story that of average people who reach the limits of what they find to be acceptable and unde...

Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler
  • English
  • 23 February 2017
  • Kindle Edition
  • 464 pages
  • Lynne Olson
  • Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler