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The Resource A guest of the Reich : the story of American heiress Gertrude Legendre's dramatic captivity and escape from Nazi Germany, Peter Finn

A guest of the Reich : the story of American heiress Gertrude Legendre's dramatic captivity and escape from Nazi Germany, Peter Finn

Creator
Summary
"From the co-author of The Zhivago Affair, a finalist for the National Books Critics Circle Award, comes the riveting story of a wealthy heiress who joined the OSS and was the only American woman in uniform to be captured by the Germans; her imprisonment among the Nazi elite and daring escape in 1945 comprise one of the more remarkable untold episodes of WWII. Gertrude 'Gertie' Legendre was a society heiress from South Carolina who lived a charmed life during the 1920s and 1930s. But the attack on Pearl Harbor gave her a different focus and she joined the OSS (the predecessor to the CIA). First in Washington and then in London, some of the most closely-held government secrets passed through her hands. As the Allies advanced into France in September 1944, she was ordered to Paris. Headstrong and eager 'to smell the fighting,' she fell into Nazi hands. Subjected to repeated interrogations, including by the SS, she held to the fiction that she was merely a U.S. embassy clerk. Her toughness averted a potential intelligence disaster, and unlike most prisoners, Gertie was presumed valuable to Nazis who knew they'd soon need a bargaining chip with the victors. Moved from city to city throughout Germany for six months before her dramatic escape into Switzerland, she was able to witness the collapse of Hitler's Reich as no other American did. A Guest of the Reich provides a propulsive, heart-racing account of a little-known chapter in the story of the war, and a vivid portrait of a truly extraordinary woman."--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First edition.
Extent
viii, 240 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates
Note
Map on endpapers
Isbn
9781524747336
Instance
Label
A guest of the Reich : the story of American heiress Gertrude Legendre's dramatic captivity and escape from Nazi Germany
Title
A guest of the Reich
Title remainder
the story of American heiress Gertrude Legendre's dramatic captivity and escape from Nazi Germany
Statement of responsibility
Peter Finn
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"From the co-author of The Zhivago Affair, a finalist for the National Books Critics Circle Award, comes the riveting story of a wealthy heiress who joined the OSS and was the only American woman in uniform to be captured by the Germans; her imprisonment among the Nazi elite and daring escape in 1945 comprise one of the more remarkable untold episodes of WWII. Gertrude 'Gertie' Legendre was a society heiress from South Carolina who lived a charmed life during the 1920s and 1930s. But the attack on Pearl Harbor gave her a different focus and she joined the OSS (the predecessor to the CIA). First in Washington and then in London, some of the most closely-held government secrets passed through her hands. As the Allies advanced into France in September 1944, she was ordered to Paris. Headstrong and eager 'to smell the fighting,' she fell into Nazi hands. Subjected to repeated interrogations, including by the SS, she held to the fiction that she was merely a U.S. embassy clerk. Her toughness averted a potential intelligence disaster, and unlike most prisoners, Gertie was presumed valuable to Nazis who knew they'd soon need a bargaining chip with the victors. Moved from city to city throughout Germany for six months before her dramatic escape into Switzerland, she was able to witness the collapse of Hitler's Reich as no other American did. A Guest of the Reich provides a propulsive, heart-racing account of a little-known chapter in the story of the war, and a vivid portrait of a truly extraordinary woman."--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Biography type
individual biography
Cataloging source
LBSOR/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1962-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Finn, Peter
Dewey number
  • 940.54/7243092
  • B
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • portraits
  • plates
  • facsimiles
Index
index present
LC call number
D810.S8
LC item number
L516 2019
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Legendre, Gertrude Sanford
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • Women spies
  • Spies
  • United States
  • Women prisoners of war
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • Socialites
  • South Carolina
Label
A guest of the Reich : the story of American heiress Gertrude Legendre's dramatic captivity and escape from Nazi Germany, Peter Finn
Instantiates
Publication
Note
Map on endpapers
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
on1119666085
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
viii, 240 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9781524747336
Lccn
2019002112
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Other physical details
illustrations, facsimiles, portraits
System control number
(OCoLC)1119666085
Label
A guest of the Reich : the story of American heiress Gertrude Legendre's dramatic captivity and escape from Nazi Germany, Peter Finn
Publication
Note
Map on endpapers
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
on1119666085
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
viii, 240 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9781524747336
Lccn
2019002112
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Other physical details
illustrations, facsimiles, portraits
System control number
(OCoLC)1119666085

Subject

Genre

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