Vigurs deserves praise for her written account of SOE operatives in World War 2. I’d previously read accounts of Odette Sansom, Noor Inyat Khan and Violets Szabo, but this audiobook broadened my knowledge immensely, not to mention that it was enjoyable as well as educational.
I enjoyed the narrator’s voice too, so this is an all round winner of an audiobook, in my opinion.
Worth a listen if you have an interest in war, espionage and bravery.
My thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

Well it took me a lot longer to listen to this than expected due to lack of time to fully take it in, but I greatly enjoyed it once the intro was over.

Kate Vigurs has written an amazing book on the working life of 39 female operatives, detailing how they were recruited into F section, the training required to become an operative, the way in which they infiltrated France, the missions that they undertook and whether they survived the war to return home and how. Vigurs has perfectly shown the hell in which they had to survive, and has compassionately and empathetically written about the deaths of some of the 39. I did feel that the introduction felt lengthy and slightly monotonous, however, this is a necessity to fully understand the rest of the book.

Mission France was narrated by Esther Wane who I feel provides the perfect voice to tell the tale of these courageous women. She provides an attractive voice to listen to and bring the book to life.

Overall I found this audiobook enthralling to listen to, not just due to an interesting narrator but also due to how in depth the details are and how much research the author must have undertaken to ensure that the stories of the 39 female operatives are heard.

This is a non-fiction audiobook that takes you through a ton of information about the women in the SOE (Special Operations Executive), a secret British World War II organization.

I've read a lot of WWII historical fiction books; so many that I've gotten to the point that unless they are based on actual events I usually pass on them. This book was non-fiction and (of course) it reads completely different. Sometimes non-fiction is tragic and brutal, my heart goes out to those agents.

Documentation from this era has been disappearing, I'm so glad that Kate Vigurs was able to capture these details in Mission France. This book is filled with heroines who weren't looking for fame and attention. I'm going to consider this a best of 2021 book in the non-fiction category.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author Kate Vigurs, the narrator Esther Wane and the publisher Tantor Audio for the opportunity to review the advance copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book because it demonstrated that women were instrumental during war times. Often young people think their grandmother or great grandmother stayed home quietly waiting for terrible times to end. So it was exciting to visualize someone like your grandparents are air dropped into an areas behind the line. It was enjoyable to recognize that real, ordinary people learned to operate to save their country or people in their community.
I listened to this book, and decided I need a hard copy so I really keep each character in focus better.

This is a really long audiobook - and that might sound like a bad thing, but its really not. There is a lot going on in this book; a lot of people that the narrator is talking about that the listener has to keep track of. Due to that fact, if this is a topic that is a passion and interests you - I would recommend to get an actual physical copy of the book where it might be easier to keep track of everyone in the book.
As for the audio book, it runs about 10 hours long and the narrator is excellent. The first bit of the book (while interesting) is very focused on more technical details of training and recruitment which is not as interesting as the later half of the book when it gets into each women's missions and fates.
This was a very enjoyable audiobook and I will be putting the hardcover copy on my wish list for books.

I have a more detailed review on my blog - the link is located below.

Such a fascinating story.

This tells the story of the 39 women who went into France as agents in the Special Operations Executive of British Intelligence in WWII.

I've been reading a lot of historical fiction about women serving in WWII lately and it was nice to read a non-fiction story in the same vein. The stories of these women are absolutely fascinating. These were women who served alongside their male counterparts in the same position with the same training.

If you're a history buff like me, you need to read this book.

Mission France tells the stories of brave women from WWII who joined SOE (Special Operations Executive). I was first intrigued by this piece of history after reading some fictional accounts of female spies in SOE and assigned to Paris. I felt like I learned quite a lot from this book, especially as someone who is American and didn’t learn about these women or SOE in my school’s history class.

Kate Vigurs lays out the stories of each woman through both their everyday tasks and their involvement in bigger plans like D-Day. By doing so, Vigurs did a great job of giving a full picture of the women and what their job entailed. These women were extraordinary and I’m in awe of them! It’s an important piece of WWII history that is overlooked but should be talked about more. It’s a great overview of women in SOE through the war, and I want to look further into some of the individual women!

It was difficult to listen to at times as there’s so much info I found myself distracted and zoning out at times. I think I may have enjoyed it more in a physical format, and been able to pay attention more easily. An informative, interesting read for anyone who enjoys espionage, WWII history, and women in history. Also if, like me, you enjoyed fictional books on this topic (ie The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff) then you may enjoy this background history!

<i>Mission France</i> tells the true story of all 39 women who served in SOE's F section during World War II. These women's bravery is awe-inspiring, willingly going into Nazi-occupied France to spy for the British government. Kate Vigurs did an excellent job of pulling together all available information about the women's missions and what happened to them, including a little note of life post World War II for those who survived. Kate Vigurs did an excellent job with the narration of the audiobook. My only complaint about the book would be that it is hard to keep all 39 women straight, but there is really no way to avoid that when you are making sure to include everyone's story.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

Thank you to @netgalley @tantoraudio for the ALC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
🤯. Thank you for writing this Kate Vigurs. I have read about a few of the women included in this book separately but, not the way they were written here. I was blown away with the detailed tactical training and missions of these women. One of the women became an expert bomber of which a diplomat said of her “She could do anything with dynamite, except eat it.” This book was quality research, honest and raw. I just love this book. It keeps these women, who fought the “secret war,” alive in our memories and in the history books. I need to get my hands on a hardcover!

espionage, spies, France, WW2, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-setting, history-and-culture, British-intelligence, resistance-efforts*****

Every one of these women volunteered to go into France during the German occupation and work for the British government intelligence. They were given the same training as the men in their units and suffered the same privations, including those who were captured. Some were held prisoner for long periods of time, and some were executed. They didn't do it for recognition, but because it was the right thing for each of them to do at that time. Some did come home and tried to pick up the pieces of their lives. Some quietly and some utilized the press and publishing. This work is well researched and documented despite the careless shredding of many records by the very departments they served. A very moving book.
Esther Wane gives a very professional narration with clearly correct pronunciations of place names as well as clear interpretive English which saves it from feeling repetitious.
I requested and received a free temporary ebook from Tantor Audio via NetGalley. Thank you!

A wonderfully written book and a well read audiobook. This is not a subject I knew anything about before picking up. Kate Vigurs beautifully tells the stories of amazingly brave women from WWII who, despite claims in the book that a few became household names, I had never heard of previously (potentially because the focus was a contingent of British agents and I'm American). The book relates both the everyday and extraordinary tasks undertaken by these women and the agency that employed them. It also did not shy away from their faults or hide their missteps. I was blown away by both the bravery displayed and the circumstances faced by these women. I studied the war in school like most do, but there were descriptions that really demonstrated to me for the first time what the reality of the occupation was like. I don't typically read non-fiction, but this was compelling and informative. Anyone with interest in WWII or the history of women in espionage roles should read it.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audio book
This is an inspirational book that tells the story of the women who went behind enemy lines in world war 2
There is so much history that leaves you in awe of these amazing women