Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
The Flame of Resistance
- American Beauty. French Hero. British Spy.
- Narrated by: Damien Lewis
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
The Flame of Resistance
Buy Now for £17.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
During WW2, Josephine Baker, the world's richest and most glamorous entertainer, was an Allied spy in Occupied France. This is the story of her heroic personal resistance to Nazi Germany.
Prior to World War II, Josephine Baker was a music hall diva renowned for her singing and exotic dancing, her beauty and sexuality; she was the most highly paid female performer in Europe. When the Nazis seized her adopted city, Paris, she was banned from the stage, along with all 'negroes and Jews'. Yet, instead of returning to America, she vowed to stay and to fight the Nazi evil. Overnight she went from performer to Resistance spy.
In The Flame of Resistance, best-selling author Damien Lewis uncovers this little known history of the famous singer's life. During the years of the war, as a member of the French Nurse paratroopers—a cover for her spying work—she participated in numerous clandestine activities and emerged as formidable spy. In turn, she was a hero of the three countries in whose name she served: the US, the nation of her birth; France, the land that embraced her during her adult career and Britain, the country from which she took her orders, as one of London's most closely guarded special agents. Baker's secret war embodies a tale of unbounded courage, passion, devotion and sacrifice, and of deep and bitter tragedy, fueled by her own desire to combat the rise of Nazism, and to fight for all that is good and right in the world.
Drawing on a plethora of new historical material and rigorous research, including previously undisclosed letters and journals, Lewis upends the conventional story of Josephine Baker, revealing that her mark on history went far beyond the confines of the stage.
Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Flame of Resistance
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Richard Moss
- 25-06-22
narration let it down
good story and well written, let down by the narration. but still worth a listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Aardvark
- 06-12-23
Writing books is not the same as reading them
The story of Josephine Baker is a very interesting one and highly recommended. I would say read the book do not listen to the audiobook.
Mr Lewis is a good author, but a terrible leader of books, his mispronunciation of several words grinds on you after awhile, one could say, affluent and effluent , are too very different things.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- C H.
- 26-06-23
Very Interesting....
Dispite the odd narration by Damien Lewis this, story is interesting and dramatic.
It's nothing like "daggers, bombs and action. It's more dark and moody.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Bryan Hutchinson
- 06-10-22
fascinating story
Good book; not quite what I expected. Could do with extra editing sometimes just in praise of its hero! Thought it would be a broader book about resistance rather than the story of Josephine Baker French dancer. That would be a better title. Still worth a read
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Alec
- 10-01-23
Interesting History
I knew nothing about the history of the French Resistance this book tells you about. The dilemmas faced by agents of all sides and friendships and lack of trust just keep the book moving. The author might have made the book shorter and I'm afraid the narration should have been better in.my view !
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nigel Morley
- 08-02-23
Great book.
An excellent book and great story. Only let down a little by the narrator, but still good.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paul.C
- 03-01-24
A truly inspiring story
The story is inspiring and opens the world up to a woman few in modern times know of.
As others have said the narration is dire at times and the mispronunciations are many, also being a story set in France then the author should know how to pronounce French words and names although those of German words are also dire.
Despite all that very much worth a listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Neil Hayward
- 06-03-24
Great Story, poorly read.
I found the story interesting and well written, but i’m afraid the narration was a real struggle. It was often read as if there was no understanding where sentences were going, leading to pauses in all the wrong places.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Russell Perrett
- 16-08-22
Off-putting narration
Such an interesting story, shame about the awful and distracting narration. What a remarkable woman she was!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!