Sarah Rose's D-Day Girls not only lets you understand what life was like in occupied France for four long years during World War II but also lets us understand the contributions that women made to overthrow the Nazi menace.
It's a true story, drawn from recently declassified files, diaries, and oral histories, that follows the challenges women faced as French saboteurs. Trained in England, the one European country left to counter Hitler's plans for conquest, the women learned how to shoot and handle explosives while keeping a low profile to avoid capture--and probable torture.
Rose explained that, while writing the book, she realized that the real end to her story arrived not with the end of the war in Europe but with D-Day, the successful Allied invasion that came 11 months earlier.
French resistance workers, suffering under German rule for years, came alive with the invasion, actively blowing up train and power lines to thwart Nazi forces bent on repelling the invaders.
But laying the groundwork for that resistance effort required a heroic effort by men--and women--whose every move was being scrutinized by a regime that Rose described as "a citadel of hate."
Fourteen of the 39 women trained by Britain's Special Operations Executive, the secret agency that became known simply as the firm, died in the war. Others sustained horrific injuries but, despite so many problems, they succeeded.
In her interview with Steve Tarter, Rose also talks about the role of the BBC during the war, not just providing information but conveying code words to spy operatives in Europe.