They Fought Alone: The True Story of the Starr Brothers, British Secret Agents in Nazi-Occupied France

by Charles Glass Narrated by Allan Corduner

Overview

“Highly detailed and fast-paced, Charles Glass's*They Fought Alone*is a must-read for those whose passion is the Resistance literature of World War II.”*-Alan Furst, author of*A Hero of France

From the bestselling author of Americans in Paris and The Deserters, the astounding story of Britain's Special Operations Executive, one of World War II's most important secret fighting forces

As far as the public knew, Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) did not exist. After the defeat of the French Army and Britain's retreat from the Continent in June 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill created the top-secret espionage operation to "set Europe ablaze." The agents infiltrated Nazi-occupied territory, parachuting behind enemy lines and hiding in plain sight, quietly but forcefully recruiting, training, and arming local French résistants to attack the German war machine. SOE would not only change the course of the war, but the nature of combat itself. Of the many brave men and women conscripted, two Anglo-American recruits, the Starr brothers, stood out to become legendary figures to the guerillas, assassins, and saboteurs they led.

While both brothers were sent across the channel to organize against the Germans, their fates in war could hardly have been more different. Captain George Starr commanded networks of résistants in southwest France, cutting German communications, destroying weapons factories, and delaying the arrival of Nazi troops to Normandy by seventeen days after D-Day. Younger brother Lieutenant John Starr laid groundwork for resistance in the Burgundy countryside until he was betrayed, captured, tortured, and imprisoned by the Nazis in France and sent to a series of concentration camps in Germany and Austria. Feats of boldness and bravado were many, but appalling scandals, including George's supposed torture and execution of Nazis prisoners, and John's alleged collaboration with his German captors, overshadowed them all. At the war's end, Britain, France, and the United States awarded both brothers medals for heroism, and George would become one of only three among thousands of SOE operatives to achieve the rank of colonel. Yet, their battle honors did little to allay postwar allegations against them, and when they returned to England, their government accused both brothers of heinous war crimes.

Here, for the first time, is the story of one of the great clandestine organizations of World War II, and of two heroic brothers whose ordeals during and after the war challenged the accepted myths of Britain's wartime resistance in occupied France. Written with complete and unrivaled access to only recently declassified documents from Britain's SOE files, French archives, family letters, diaries, and court records, along with interviews from surviving wartime Resistance fighters, They Fought Alone is a real-life thriller. Renowned journalist and war correspondent Charles Glass exposes a dramatic tale of spies, sabotage, and the daring men and women who risked everything to change the course of World War II.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

07/23/2018
Glass (The Deserters: A Hidden History of World War II), former chief Mideast correspondent for ABC News, tells the story of George and John Starr, British brothers of American descent who worked with partisans in France during WWII. George spearheaded a Resistance network in southwest France that overcame numerous obstacles to seriously hamper the German war effort, with achievements that included blowing up a gunpowder factory in Toulouse and rendering 900 sections of railroad inoperable for German trains. John was active for a far shorter period of time in eastern France before he was betrayed in 1943 and imprisoned in Paris for 11 months; he cooperated somewhat with his captors, hoping to gain information from them, but ultimately was sent to concentration camps. After the war, both brothers fell under suspicion; George was charged with the particularly brutal torture of Gestapo agents and John with cooperating with the Germans. While both were exonerated, their careers in British intelligence were finished. Glass’s vividly written work adds an important chapter to the story of the Resistance. Agent: Ed Victor, Ed Victor Ltd. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

A lively account …. the work sheds lights on how British intelligence perilously worked with the French.” — Library Journal

“Charles Glass....uses his considerable research and storytelling skills to uncover the little-known story of SOE (Special Operations Executive) agents George and John Starr....While They Fought Alone may read like a thriller, the enormous toll that the war took on George and John Starr is palpable. As we approach the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019, this book is a timely reminder of what it took to defeat tyranny.” — Bookpage

“Glass’s vividly written work adds an important chapter to the story of the Resistance.” – Publishers Weekly

“A fresh, detailed take on the patriotic legend of anti-Nazi insurgency….A well-rendered historical account emphasizing the moral complexities of unorthodox warfare.” — Kirkus

“Highly detailed and fast-paced, Charles Glass’s They Fought Alone is a must-read for those whose passion is the Resistance literature of World War II.” —Alan Furst, author of A Hero of France
 
“A fascinating, gripping account of two controversial secret agents, brothers who maneuvered with great cunning and managed to survive behind the lines in Nazi occupied France.” —Alex Kershaw, author of Avenue of Spies and The Liberator

MARCH 2019 - AudioFile

This fascinating audiobook tells the story of two British brothers, Charles and John Starr, who were sent to Occupied France to assist the Resistance. Narrator Allan Corduner delivers author Glass’s story with precision. Working for a top-secret espionage operation known as the British Special Operations Executive, the brothers laid the groundwork for Winston Churchill’s goal of setting Europe ablaze. Corduner uses an effective news anchor-like style that focuses the listener on the heretofore unknown work of this secret fighting force. The audiobook has many memorable moments, and Corduner particularly excels during the portions of the story in which it appeared that the Starr brothers were cooperating with the Nazis, when in actuality they were delaying and sabotaging them. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2018-06-18
An exacting reconstruction of the exploits of two Anglo-American brothers who fueled French resistance to Nazi occupation.Former ABC News chief Middle East correspondent Glass (Syria Burning: A Short History of a Catastrophe, 2016, etc.) creates a fresh, detailed take on the patriotic legend of anti-Nazi insurgency by focusing on the diverse array of heroes and villains the brothers encountered once dispatched in 1942 to develop resistance cells for Britain's Special Operations Executive. "While British agents like George and John Starr learned how to kill," writes the author, "training schools could not teach them whom to trust." The brothers' divergent experiences provide an inherently compelling narrative. Over two years of covert organizational actions in the Gascony region, including receiving weaponry and agents and maintaining communications with SOE, George gained renown as an effective, principled officer, culminating in sabotage and combat operations following D-Day. However, John was arrested in Paris by Nazi counterintelligence. He cooperated with his interrogators, secretly documenting the Funkspiel, or "playback," of captured radios, a successful counterdeception of SOE. Nazi officers who'd taken a liking to him spared his life after a thwarted escape attempt, although he was later sent to concentration camps. Both brothers survived the war only to see their reputations tarnished; George was accused of allowing the torture of Gestapo agents, while John was tried for collaboration in France. Both were eventually acquitted; as Glass concludes, "each Starr had experienced a different war….Each always rose to the defense of the other." The author ably captures the stubborn courage displayed by SOE agents and the French resisters who gathered around them, and he clearly portrays the clever functionality of Allied espionage and insurgency tactics despite the brutality of the Nazis and their collaborators. His determination to fully document the sprawling web of individual players, political factions, betrayals, and flashpoints that compose the French resistance narrative results in a history that casual readers may find dense but that World War II buffs will relish.A well-rendered historical account emphasizing the moral complexities of unorthodox warfare.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169471014
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	09/11/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos