Product Description

'A gripping story: There cannot be many clearer or more detailed accounts of the operations of the French resistance, and Hue's death-defying adventures make for riveting reading' New Statesman Andre Hue was something of a daredevil. By the age of twenty the Anglo-Frenchman had survived shipwreck and years undercover in France, sabotaging German supply lines. Returning to Britain, he was recruited by SOE to parachute behind enemy lines on 5 June 1944, to unite resistance forces in Brittany and paralyze local German troops during the Allied invasion. Though Hue’s mission was fraught with difficulty – he missed his landing site, his secret base camp became the site of a pitch battle and a band of Cossacks tried to hunt him down – he knew that thousands of lives depended on his success or failure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12504 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Andre Hue was born in Swansea of a Welsh mother and French father, and brought up in France. He was recruited by SOE and parachuted into Brittany, where he displayed outstanding bravery for which he was awarded both the DSO and the Croix de Guerre. He was later dropped behind enemy lines in Burma, and after the war joined MI6. He is in his 80s, and lives with his wife in Sussex.

Customer Reviews

Living proof
I recently moved to the Malestroit area of Brittany, and it was suggested that I should read this book. It is without doubt the best book that I have read for some years, and the first for a while that I have read every word written, including all the appendices. Having read the book a visit to the Musee de la Resistance at St Marcel is thoroughly recommended - it is much more than its title suggests. I would also say to anyone that a short drive around the area, to the towns, villages and the countryside mentioned in the book will bring every word read, alive. Time has passed, but the courage from this book lives on.

Action packed
The action starts on the very first page with the sinking of an Atlantic liner and from there we are led, via Casablanca, to the martialling yards of a German controlled railway terminus, para drops, return to UK by MTB, SOE training, para drop back into France the evening before D Day. Hardly a moment's rest!
Well controlled writing then covers the killing of the local Gestapo Colonel to the largest fixed battle ever undertaken by the French Resistance followed by an intensive period of escape and evasion.
Compelling actions and compelling writing from the very first page makes this reviewer wonder if others have openend the book. Or, if so, they have another agenda behind their reviews of what Professor MRD Foot has described as one of the best books (writing and content)to have come out of that period of the Second World War - and I for one can not disagree.
The daily living conditions - yes Calvados and food - are an integral part of Andre Hue's tale and add the human touches to an otherwise frightening and humbling story.

A truly gripping and moving tale. Impossible to put down
I've never written a book review before or ever felt the urge to have to write one until I read this great tale.
It is truly the only book that I've actually been upset to finish. It is the most moving read I've ever come across and I was immensely upset to find myself completing it in what seemed like such a short time.
The story is full of drama and makes it easy to picture what life would have been like for one of the brave SOE agents of the Second World War in occupied France. From Andre's early days working on the railway, to parachuting back into France from an excursion in England, to the cat and mouse chase across the French countryside from the German Gestapo and French 'Milice', the book draws you in and it becomes impossible to put down. It isn't just a book about war; it is about a young man growing into adulthood, finding his place in life, falling in love and fighting for his country.
This book is a true epic, and is one that really gets the reader involved emotionally. I would recommend it to anyone.

My only problem is that now there's an empty space in my life where this book once was, and now I need to find something equally gripping to fill it!
Read this book. You will not be disappointed.