Josephine Baker's secret war : the African American star who fought for France and freedom
(2025)

Nonfiction

Book

Call Numbers:
NEW BIOGRAPHY/BAKER,J

Availability

Locations Call Number Status
New & Popular Biography & Memoir NEW BIOGRAPHY/BAKER,J Available

Details

PUBLISHED
New Haven : Yale University Press, [2025]
©2025
DESCRIPTION

xvi, 326 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

ISBN/ISSN
9780300279986, 0300279981 :, 0300279981, 9780300279986 CIPO000210117
LANGUAGE
English
NOTES

List of Illustrations -- List of Abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- Author's Note -- Introduction -- 1. Becoming Agent Baker (1939-1940) -- 2. Serving France (1940-1941) -- 3. Agent Baker in Morocco (1941-1942) -- 4. Baker and the Americans in North Africa (1943) -- 5. Baker in the Middle East (1943) -- 6. Lieutenant Baker (1944-1945) -- 7. After the War (1945-1975) -- Afterword -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

"Before the Second World War, Josephine Baker (1906-1975) was one of the most famous performers in the world. She made her name dancing on the Parisian stage, but when war broke out she decided not to return to America. Instead, Baker turned spy for the French Secret Services. In this engaging, deeply researched study, Hanna Diamond tells the full story of Baker's actions for the French and Allied powers in World War Two. Drawing on previously unseen material, Diamond reveals the vital role Baker played throughout the war, from counterintelligence work for the Allied landings in North Africa to serving in the French Air Force in 1944-45. A woman of colour operating in a white male environment, Baker exploited her celebrity to enable her war work across France, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, and the Middle East"--Amazon.com