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purplepenning's review against another edition
4.0
The informal tone may not be everyone's cup of tea (and it may not age well) but this is pretty entertaining and badass history.
mrsjhasbooks's review against another edition
5.0
This YA nonfiction read was an incredible chronology of the incredible life of Virginia Hall, an overseas spy during WWII. Her ability to look danger (and potential death) square in the eye to ensure the toppling of Nazi Germany (and later the Soviets) makes her one of the most amazing women I have ever read about.
emonroe26's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed learning about this incredible woman in WW2 history that I had never heard of before. I wasn’t sure going in what a YA biography would be like, but it is exactly that: if your best friend in high school was giving you the gossipy scoop about a historical figure. I’m not sure that I am currently (a 25 year old with a doctorate that reads constantly) the target reader, but I know that I would have eaten this up in high school.
trogdor19's review against another edition
5.0
Why aren't all history books written like this?
This was rollicking good fun, like sitting around a fire with a bottle of wine and a friend telling you all the craziest stories from history. Virginia Hall's life keeps getting more and more dangerous and thrilling as you get deeper into the book, and it's truly astounding what she was able to pull off. With no training whatsover, she taught herself all manner of sabotage, explosives, jail breaking for dummies, and went on to lead her own unofficial armies. A civilian woman. Leading armies. In the 1940s. I kept having to read one more chapter, then another, then another until I ran out of wars and pages. Wish this was an entire series of lady spies.
This is nonfiction that reads like the most page-turning of novels. If you like tough women taking out Nazis, this is the book for you!
This was rollicking good fun, like sitting around a fire with a bottle of wine and a friend telling you all the craziest stories from history. Virginia Hall's life keeps getting more and more dangerous and thrilling as you get deeper into the book, and it's truly astounding what she was able to pull off. With no training whatsover, she taught herself all manner of sabotage, explosives, jail breaking for dummies, and went on to lead her own unofficial armies. A civilian woman. Leading armies. In the 1940s. I kept having to read one more chapter, then another, then another until I ran out of wars and pages. Wish this was an entire series of lady spies.
This is nonfiction that reads like the most page-turning of novels. If you like tough women taking out Nazis, this is the book for you!
laurenvdb's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
2.5
The story of Virginia Hall and others working as spies and/or in resistance circles is fascinating, but the overly informal style of the narrative didn't work for me and took me out of the story.
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