Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy
The New Yorker, Best Books of 2022
Vanity Fair, Best Books of 2022
Booklist, Best Books of 2022

Singer. Actress. Beauty. Spy. During WWII, Josephine Baker, the world's richest and most glamorous entertainer, was an Allied spy in Occupied France. 


Prior to World War II, Josephine Baker was a music-hall diva renowned for her singing and dancing, her beauty and sexuality; she was the highest-paid female performer in Europe. When the Nazis seized her adopted city, Paris, she was banned from the stage, along with all “negroes and Jews.” Yet instead of returning to America, she vowed to stay and to fight the Nazi evil. Overnight, she went from performer to Resistance spy. 

In Agent Josephine, bestselling author Damien Lewis uncovers this little-known history of the famous singer’s life. During the war years, as a member of the French Nurse paratroopers—a cover for her spying work—Baker participated in numerous clandestine activities and emerged as a formidable spy. In turn, she was a hero of the three countries in whose name she served—the US, France, and Britain. 
 
Drawing on a plethora of new historical material and rigorous research, including previously undisclosed letters and journals, Lewis upends the conventional story of Josephine Baker, explaining why she fully deserves her unique place in the French Panthéon.
1139558989
Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy
The New Yorker, Best Books of 2022
Vanity Fair, Best Books of 2022
Booklist, Best Books of 2022

Singer. Actress. Beauty. Spy. During WWII, Josephine Baker, the world's richest and most glamorous entertainer, was an Allied spy in Occupied France. 


Prior to World War II, Josephine Baker was a music-hall diva renowned for her singing and dancing, her beauty and sexuality; she was the highest-paid female performer in Europe. When the Nazis seized her adopted city, Paris, she was banned from the stage, along with all “negroes and Jews.” Yet instead of returning to America, she vowed to stay and to fight the Nazi evil. Overnight, she went from performer to Resistance spy. 

In Agent Josephine, bestselling author Damien Lewis uncovers this little-known history of the famous singer’s life. During the war years, as a member of the French Nurse paratroopers—a cover for her spying work—Baker participated in numerous clandestine activities and emerged as a formidable spy. In turn, she was a hero of the three countries in whose name she served—the US, France, and Britain. 
 
Drawing on a plethora of new historical material and rigorous research, including previously undisclosed letters and journals, Lewis upends the conventional story of Josephine Baker, explaining why she fully deserves her unique place in the French Panthéon.
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Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy

Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy

by Damien Lewis
Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy

Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy

by Damien Lewis

Hardcover

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Overview

The New Yorker, Best Books of 2022
Vanity Fair, Best Books of 2022
Booklist, Best Books of 2022

Singer. Actress. Beauty. Spy. During WWII, Josephine Baker, the world's richest and most glamorous entertainer, was an Allied spy in Occupied France. 


Prior to World War II, Josephine Baker was a music-hall diva renowned for her singing and dancing, her beauty and sexuality; she was the highest-paid female performer in Europe. When the Nazis seized her adopted city, Paris, she was banned from the stage, along with all “negroes and Jews.” Yet instead of returning to America, she vowed to stay and to fight the Nazi evil. Overnight, she went from performer to Resistance spy. 

In Agent Josephine, bestselling author Damien Lewis uncovers this little-known history of the famous singer’s life. During the war years, as a member of the French Nurse paratroopers—a cover for her spying work—Baker participated in numerous clandestine activities and emerged as a formidable spy. In turn, she was a hero of the three countries in whose name she served—the US, France, and Britain. 
 
Drawing on a plethora of new historical material and rigorous research, including previously undisclosed letters and journals, Lewis upends the conventional story of Josephine Baker, explaining why she fully deserves her unique place in the French Panthéon.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781541700666
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Publication date: 07/12/2022
Pages: 496
Sales rank: 498,625
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Damien Lewis is an award-winning writer who spent twenty years reporting from war, disaster, and conflict zones for the BBC and other global news organizations. He is the bestselling author of more than twenty books, many of which are being adapted into films or television series, including military history, thrillers, and several acclaimed memoirs about military working dogs. Lewis lives in Dorset, England.

Table of Contents

Author's Note ix

Preface xv

Chapter 1 A Traitor Unmasked 1

Chapter 2 An Honourable Spy 23

Chapter 3 From Paris With Love 39

Chapter 4 A Most Sensational Woman 51

Chapter 5 The Darkness Descends 61

Chapter 6 It Can't Always Be Caviar 77

Chapter 7 The Enemy At The Gates 93

Chapter 8 The Iron Resistance 107

Chapter 9 Stardom, Her Cloak And Her Dagger 117

Chapter 10 The Black Angel 135

Chapter 11 Invisible Ink And Secret Steamships 151

Chapter 12 On The Gestapo Hitlist 165

Chapter 13 Abandon All Hope 179

Chapter 14 Unbreakable 193

Chapter 15 The Twelve Apostles 206

Chapter 16 Dances With Death 217

Chapter 17 Operation Josephine B 233

Chapter 18 Operation Underworld 249

Chapter 19 Captured, Imprisoned 262

Chapter 20 The Grim Reaper Calls 278

Chapter 21 Lighting The Torch 295

Chapter 22 Die Another Day 308

Chapter 23 Into The Heat And Dust 328

Chapter 24 Liberation Day 339

Chapter 25 A Song For Buchenwald 353

Epilogue 365

Acknowledgements 389

A Note on Sources 397

Selected Bibliography 399

Sources 403

Notes 411

Index 453

Association for the Defence and the Memory of Colonel Remy 467

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