Mission France cover art

Mission France

The True History of the Women of SOE

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Mission France

By: Kate Vigurs
Narrated by: Esther Wane
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

The full story of the 39 female SOE agents who went undercover in France.

Formed in 1940, Special Operations Executive was to coordinate Resistance work overseas. The organization's F section sent more than 400 agents into France, 39 of whom were women. But while some are widely known - Violette Szabo, Odette Sansom, Noor Inayat Khan - others have had their stories largely overlooked.

Kate Vigurs interweaves for the first time the stories of all 39 female agents. Tracing their journeys from early recruitment to work undertaken in the field, to evasion from, or capture by, the Gestapo, Vigurs shows just how greatly missions varied. Some agents were more adept at parachuting. Some agents' missions lasted for years, others' less than a few hours. Some survived, others were murdered. By placing the women in the context of their work with the SOE and the wider war, this history reveals the true extent of the differences in their abilities and attitudes while underlining how they nonetheless shared a common mission and, ultimately, deserve recognition.

©2021 Kate Vigurs (P)2021 Tantor Europe France Freedom & Security Military Politics & Government Espionage War

Listeners also enjoyed...

 A Life in Secrets cover art
MI9 cover art
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare cover art
SBS – Silent Warriors cover art
The Walls Have Ears cover art
Code Name: Lise cover art
Flames in the Field cover art
Carve Her Name with Pride cover art
Renegades cover art
Churchill's German Army cover art
Rome - City in Terror cover art
A War of Empires cover art
SAS Great Escapes cover art
The Traitor of Colditz cover art
Madame Fourcade's Secret War cover art
A House for Spies cover art
All stars
Most relevant
Just finished this and it’s a great listen I couldn’t put it down highly recommended

Mission France

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An incredible story of heroics and courage by the women of SOE. Well researched and told.

Amazing heroism

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I heard Kate being interviewed about her book on a " We have ways of making you talk" Podcast, and decided then to have a listen to her book. Did so and bought it. Its utterly riveting from start to finish and a real testament to the bravery and resilience of the women of SOE, I would warn however that some of the content is extremely harrowing and shows the utter depravity of the Third Reich and its treatment of human beings, and also the resilience of the human spirit to such atrocities.They were brave women...and we owe them a huge debt .
The narration by Esther is excellent and easy to listen to.
Thoroughly recommended read !

Utterly riveting!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very informative listen,
learned a lot from this title
Definitely a good defence book

Soe

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So many SOE accounts focus on romanticised versions or frankly incorrect versions, particularly when female against are concerned. This one doesn’t. Frank, candid and often harrowing this account somewhat addresses the balance and in many respects prepares the ground for an all encompassing account of the force regardless of sex. Kate Vigurs as pulled together known histories, new information and informed consideration, with a strong conclusion. As such, this is the best account of a part of the SWW I know very much about. One day someone will be able to bring together the overall effectiveness of all the non standard ops and this will play a considerable part. Well-written, well-read and well-received by this listener.

Balance Redressed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews