Skip to main content

A Woman of No Importance Review by Sutton


A Woman of No    

Importance

By

    Sonia Purnell

Reviewed by

    Geoffrey W. Sutton

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

A woman of no importance is more than just another spy story. Virginia Hall was a true hero who battled men’s prejudice against female warriors as she simultaneously took on the Nazi occupiers of France by organizing resistance fighters and sending vital intelligence to British and American intelligence planners in London during World a War II. Her contributions were recognized much later than were her male peers as cultures in the UK and USA gradually changed to appreciate women. 

Fortunately the book not only gives Virginia a voice but it educates us about the horrors of war and the importance of small hidden  acts of courage that support the more visible efforts of armed forces. 

Virginia Hall's contribution to America does not end with World War II. She joined the newly formed CIA and was assigned to a variety of tasks--many below her level of expertise.

The book is well written and the author clearly appreciates her hero. She shares some of the leaders weak points but even these are often viewed from a generous perspective. 

Like the hero herself, the author does not draw much attention to Virginia’s prosthetic leg. We learn enough to realize this was one extra challenge to overcome especially since the progress in prostheses over the last 75 years. 

Adding to the burden of prejudice and war are the heavy gear and limited functionality of low tech communication equipment of the 1940s. It’s truly a story of courage, determination, accomplishment, and dedication that would make anyone proud to have been part of her winning team.

Virginia Hall born 6 April 1906 in Baltimore Maryland, died 8 July 1982, Rockville, Maryland USA. You may also like the CIA story.

Reference

Purnell, S. (2019). A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. New York: Viking.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Denial of Death and the Meaningful Life- Book Review

  The Denial of Death   by Ernest Becker A Review by Geoffrey W. Sutton The prospect of death, Dr. Johnson said, wonderfully concentrates the mind. The main thesis of this book is that it does much more than that: the idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity—activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man.  — Ernest Becker, xvii I completed a recent reading of this old classic yesterday (13 December, 2015) because I was interested in Becker’s contribution to Terror Management Theory, which I find so helpful in understanding the ways U.S. leaders are publicly responding to terrorist activities. Becker’s ideas are more than forty years old and many have not withstood the test of time. However, his basic premise that we deny the reality of death in many ways remains valid

A Christmas Carol offers lessons in Psychology and Faith A Book Review

A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens A Review by Geoffrey W. Sutton My copy of A Christmas Carol was a gift on Christmas day, 1963. Two Christmases before I had walked the cold, fog-laden, smog drenched streets of Old London with my dad whilst my mother visited with her family. It was a grey day and a grey week. We took turns warming parts of our body by fireplaces here and there. After five years in the U.S. we had returned home to London on the occasion of my maternal grandmother’s death.  Dickens’ story paints a familiar tale textured by my early memories and enriched today by having watched my favourite rendition of A Christmas Carol ( 1984 ) with my wife on Christmas eve. My interest in reviewing the book is not just for a pleasant walk about the old streets of London but I'm motivated by a sense of appreciation for the poetic and colourful artistry with which Dickens plumbs the hopes and fears of humanity. So, follow

WILLPOWER Setting & Reaching Goals- Book Review by Sutton

WILLPOWER Rediscovering the Greatest    Human Strength By Roy Baumeister & John Tierney Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton I go to a gym, which is crowded in January. Regulars know the early Happy-New-Year commitments to fitness will weaken sometime in February. Roy Baumeister has spent a good part of his career studying self-control. His book, Willpower   written with Tierney,  entertains and informs us with an organized set of findings explaining factors that influence self-control. Two critical factors weaken our judgments: food and sleep. We need glucose and sleep to be at our best when it comes to making wise decisions and marking progress toward our goals. A pretty woman can loosen a man’s grip on his career--we hear these news stories from time to time as one political group takes aim at each other's leaders--men who failed at sexual self-control and sadly blame women for their lack of self-control. Fat shaming happens. T