I found this to be an interesting and absorbing narrative about the part played by brave De la Rochefoucauld part in The Resistance. It would appeal to anyone interested in accounts based on World War 2, not only for this man's part in it. I believe it was well researched and would recommend it. With thanks to Netgalley for the chance to give my honest review in exchange for a digital copy.

This is the story of Robert de La Rochefoucauld. It opens with an introduction to Robert and states that it is a work of "narrative non fiction". When the war starts Robert, a teenager, escapes to the UK via the Pyrenees and Spain and in the company of some UK pilots for a time. There he is recruited by SOE and trained in killing and sabotage. He is parachuted back into France in 1943.

The book covers the period of Robert's war in the main. The author has done a great deal of research on his subject and the book contains numerous footnotes on sources etc. It is one of those stories of "daring do" in the war (the second world war) and I've read a number of them over the years. There are highs and lows and some parts are far more interesting than others. Some of the narrative on Robert's time in the Resistance felt brief. The story of SOE, de Gaulle and Churchill in London felt far more drawn out for instance.

I found the writing style here rather strange. It felt rather padded out to me and some good editorial work might have made for a sharper offering perhaps. There are some factual mistakes here too which is a pity. A relatively modern court case starts this book and is referred to again at the end. Robert chose to actively support a Nazi sympathiser and one wonders whether the motivation for this book was to try and balance the less good publicity.

Robert definitely comes over as a character. He was certainly active in the Resistance and carried out acts of sabotage which make for interesting reading. However, objectively, he was arrested quite often and spent time as a prisoner of both the Spanish and the Germans (and was held by the English in a sense for a while). I would imagine there are many other stories that remain untold of people who did more. This is not a bad book however I cannot really recommend it.

Note - I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review