Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy Paperback – July 11, 2023

I have been fascinated by Josephine Baker.Her career her bold move to reside in France and her work with the French resistance during the Second World War.

The role of the Resistance in North Africa is a compelling story. Josephine Baker’s role is unknown to most American readers even those whose knowledge of WW Ii is deep. She was an angel to hundreds of thousand Allied troops many of whom did not survive the North African campaign. The chapter entitled ‘Liberation Day’ is a moving account of the closing days of the unlikely victory of the Allies over the Nazi armies in Operation Torch. Damien Lewis has provided a valuable and riveting history of bravery, dedication, and loyalty of one of the heroines of WW II, a woman whose personal suffering was no obstacle to her sense of decency and love.

This book is very detailed and factual. My expectation was that it would be more of a historical novel. I would have told Josephine’s story in a different manner. But it is still interesting. She was a marvelous, extremely heroic lady.

As an animal lover, I was fascinated with Baker's love for animals, and how she travelled with them during her espionage exploits. Her pets included a golden lion tamarin, an emperor tamarin, a monkey, and a dog. She played a dangerous game of hide and seek with the Nazis while these critters accompanied her.

This is a very well researched book but to the point where I have to say it reads like a textbook. Too many details are given about too many characters. It shouldn't be titled to make the reader think that it's going to be all about Josephine Baker; there are several other very interesting characters who get as much attention as she does and not always in a good way for the reader. It could've/should've been titled to refer to Josephine and her whole gang of spies so that I would've expected something more along those lines. I was hoping for much more of it to be about Josephine so ended up disappointed when it wasn't. I learned very cool and interesting stuff about her and was super intrigued and would've liked the author to stay on track and keep the flow moving about her but there was just too many sidetracks and long segments about too many other people, making the read a little dry and not as exciting as it could've been.

Fascinating book, covers World War II in broad strokes and goes into detail about the life Agent Josephine, a truly remarkable, talented and courageous woman.

Who knew? Josephine Baker was an amazing woman. This book clearly describes her background, her move to France, her loyalty, her ability to gather and communicate intelligence at very high risk to herself. Very much worth the read.

Interesting story