The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy

I gave up on reading it and went instead to various online sources for the basic story.As storytelling, this book is not bad. The author does a decent job of presenting Virginia Hall's situation and extraordinary character. However, the book is not trustworthy as history. Put it this way: I would definitely recommend against placing this book on a reading list for students. Why? Because what are really very important, fundamental aspects of WWII are wrong here - so wrong as to seem to be made up out of thin air. Two examples: (1) The author writes that the Soviet invasion of Poland "sent the message to Berlin that Nazi aggression into the Baltic and Ukraine must stop immediately" - yet anyone who has had history class in high school might remember that the invasion of Poland was a joint Soviet-German project, coordinated between the two invaders as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. (2) The author writes: "The Germans arrived with powerful tanks, while the French had only machine guns." Where does the author get this? France had tanks, including the formidable Char B1.These errors are pretty egregious in the age of the internet. And these are the errors that anyone with average knowledge of WWII can spot; meanwhile, I am supposed to rely on the author herself for any information about Virginia Hall. Sadly, the book is unworthy of that trust. So, I have put it down and found my reading on Virginia Hall elsewhere. Thus, I have to strongly disagree with the Library Journal's recommendation that this book belongs in a public library.

Virginia Hall was an extremely intriguing woman and her story deserves to be told. Unfortunately, I must agree with other 3-star reviewers as to the writing style of the author; she seems to be trying to hard to "spice it up," so to speak, but as a result I find myself reading war descriptions not unique and vibrant, but rather descriptions that are tedious and expected--the same stuff I've read dozens of other times in dozens of other books. What bothers me most, however, is the lack of sources.I thoroughly enjoyed reading this entertaining book however, as writer myself who focuses on WWII and must ensure complete historical accuracy in all my works, I had to read this book with the mindset that it is fiction rather than fact and cannot be used for research. By that statement, I don't mean to say that the book is false and inaccurate; I intend merely to state that I don't know one way or another if what the author says is true without digging into the topic and doing research on my own. The reason for this is because Pearson quotes people, news, etc., but never gives sources for her quotes. They're just dangling statements that are in no way backed up to verify their truth, as for example on page 30 (my thoughts in brackets):"...Paris newspapers had labeled the day 'Gray Friday,' as had other papers around the world. [Which Paris papers? Which papers around the world?] And they gave extensive accounts of French and British governmental missives insisting that Hitler 'withdraw entirely from Polish soil or consider himself at war with them.' " [Where does this quote come from, who said it?]This is one example, of which there are many, many more. I am simply unable to take the 'facts' of any book seriously if the author is not willing to back up her non-fiction work with footnotes or endnotes.In a nutshell, this is an entertaining, interesting book on a fabulous topic -- but definitely not a book anyone should quote, or that a scholar should read for research purposes. Read it for fun only.

I have read the book twice and listened to the audiobook once. This is an important perspective on the resistance against the Germans in France during WWII--as well as the role of a remarkable leader, fighter and radio operator. I wish there was more personal information on Virginia Hall, but that is what she would have wanted, anyway. She was modest and downplayed her role. My initial interest in her was her work as a clandestine radio operator using morse code--and that is my passion, working out of my backpack in the mountains of New Mexico or via set-up on my bicycle. I still meet veteran WWII radio operators on the air, chatting via morse--and I would love to have chatted with Virginia in her later years... Best 73, Virginia, de KD5RDD...

Well worth reading of a remarkable woman who had a disability which never stop her from being an SOE agent

The story of an amazing woman who deserves to be remembered. A good factual account of her work as agent during the German occupation of France in WWII. Never dull, always entertaining. Read it!

Very satisfied. Arrived promptly.

Simply put, this woman stepped up to do what she felt was the right thing, for the love of France, with little regard for her own safety. General Wild Bill Donovan made sure she was recognized in her own time, although she demanded little - or preferably, no - fanfare about what she had done during the war. The story kept its steady pace throughout, written in a first hand accounting, and referencing the spy's own correspondence as well as others.

This book is a masterpiece. It reads like a diary, and is amazingly accurate in its detail. The message is inspiring, in that this real person had to deal with adversities and challenges outside those created by her occupation. Thriller!