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The Flame of Resistance
By Damien Lewis
By Quercus Books (Hachette Australia)
ISBN: 9781529416763
Most people have heard of Josephine Baker the renowned beauty and outstanding French exotic dancer and singer that wowed audiences for decades. What most do not know is that she played a vitally important role for the allies during World War II.
In this biography of her key and revered role in the Resistance working for the British,, French and American secret services is brought to life in this well researched story.
Damien Lewis has written an outstanding detailed biography about Josephine Baker and her spy cohorts whose work was recognised with the highest honours in France, for greatly assisting to overcome the Nazi regime.
Beginning with her early life as a poverty stricken child in St Louis, USA while dancing to keep warm in the bitterly cold winter months she discovered that she passionately loved dancing and wanted to do this for a living. Her talents were spotted when she worked in New York and the offer to join a revue in Paris in her late teens was to be life changing in many ways.
Firstly, her mixed race background was not a hinderance as it had been in the country of her birth and the Parisians adored her performances.By the time she was in her mid-twenties she was already a millionaire living a fabulous life with valuable gifts bestowed upon her by adoring fans.
She adored living in her adopted home country, France. After living in Paris for two decades when the world was coming under grave threat from the Nazis, she wanted to help in any way she could and as perhaps luck would have it she was approached by a member of the Deuxieme Bureaux, France's external military intelligence agency in operation from 1871 to 1940.
The agent Jacques Abtey, sent to her beautiful home to interview Josephine and see if she would make a good candidate as an honorary agent was not what she expected. Instead of a grey man in walked this handsome dashing young thirties something and senior agent, He was equally impressed with her capabilities as several in the Bureau thought an entertainer would not be suitable. How wrong they were. Her international fame was the perfect role for hiding and passing on intelligence.
The Flame of Resistance takes the reader on a detailed journey all through the war years in which Josephine Baker pulled off many remarkable roles while touring several countries for her performances, travelling over the Mediterranean Sea, to Spain and Portugal, deep in the mountains of Morocco, through Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Corsica in some pretty trying and life threatening experiences and eventually back to mainland France. Most of these she performed fee-free in order to raise much needed money for the French Resistance.
You will read that she was brave of course, but also determined and filled with resolve to do whatever had to be done. As she said, she was made of steel. Even when she was gravely ill and in a hospital/clinic for 19 months in Morocco undergoing several operations. This too became the perfect cover.The Germans had their suspicions of course, there were agents all around her, but thanks to her international stardom and unable to prove anything they could not touch her. This did not apply to those close to her such as the Twelve Apostles and Jacques Abtey,
It was interesting to read of unlikely bedfellows at this time with secret services in several countries and the mafia The cover of their smuggling operation was perfect, They did what had to be done to overcome the enemy.
Josephine Baker made many friends in high places from North Africa to Europe and with others she met along the way. These anecdotes make interesting reading as people who may not usually work together did so for a common goal.
She was a remarkable humanitarian and the book touches on her desire to have children and eventually adopting twelve children from across the world, from varying circumstances to show that people can get along together regardless of their background.
Her Chateau in Dordogne, France is where she had set aside a wing for the war effort. We have visited the Chateau des Milandes and spent a full day there admiring the costumes, history, the rooms, the beauty and the magnificent gardens, so it was easy to picture these as I read the book. I do wish I visited after reading this and hope to do so again one of these days with a different perspective.
I highly recommend you read this book, for the history, the quality of the research and writing and simply it's a jolly good, interesting read.
This is independent review, I am not paid by the publishers, so.If you Liked this review, Buy me a coffee
