Ten books about extraordinary “ordinary” women

Amazon Book Review editor Al Woodworth and colleagues tagged ten books by or about "extraordinary 'ordinary' women who have shared their lives on the page," including:

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

Virginia Hall was an American spy who worked undercover in France during World War II for Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE). She was raised to be a debutante, but Hall was more comfortable studying languages—she eventually moved abroad where she worked for the State Department. Sonia Purnell brings Hall’s exploits to entertaining, fast-paced, three dimensional life. Virginia Hall was recruited by the recently formed SOE to serve as a spy in occupied France. She posed as a newspaper reporter, enlisting civilians for the French Resistance and establishing an underground network of allies, becoming one of the most important spies during World War II. Churchill is synonymous with the Second World War; but the victory was achieved by unsung heroes like Virginia Hall.

Read about another entry on the list.

A Woman of No Importance is among Ava Glass's six top non-fiction books about real spies and Ross Johnson's twelve essential history books.

--Marshal Zeringue