One of the most celebrated female World War II resistance fighters shares her remarkable story in this firsthand account of her experience as a special agent for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). Told through a series of reminiscencesfrom a difficult childhood spent in the shadow of World War I and her family's harrowing escape from France as the Germans approached in 1940 to her recruitment and training as a special agent and the logistics of parachuting into a remote rural area of occupied France and hiding in cornfields from enemy fireeach chapter also includes helpful opening remarks to provide context and background on the SOE and the French Resistance. With an annotated list of key figures, an appendix of original unedited interview extractsincluding Pearl's fiancé Henri's storyand fascinating photographs and documents from Pearl's personal collection, this memoir will captivate World War II buffs of any age.

Pearl Witherington Cornioley joined the Special Operations Executive in 1943 and worked with the French Resistance as an undercover courier and later, under the code name “Pauline,” as a network leader of 3,500 men. She was instrumental in the carrying out of numerous acts of sabotage during World War II. Kathryn J. Atwood is the author of Women Heroes of World War II. She has contributed to Midwest Book Review; BookPleasures.com; PopMatters.com; and War, Literature, and the Arts. She lives in the suburbs of Chicago.