The Saboteur: The Aristocrat Who Became France's Most Daring Anti-Nazi Commando Hardcover, illus - 2017

A breathtaking work of narrative nonfiction, as fast-paced and emotionally intuitive as the very best spy thrillers, The Saboteur illuminates an unsung hero of the French Resistance--Robert de La Rochefoucauld, an aristocrat turned undercover anti-Nazi Leader.

A scion of one of the most storied families in France, Robert de La Rochefoucauld was raised in a magnificent chateaux and educated in Europe's finest schools. When the Nazis invaded and imprisoned his father, La Rochefoucauld escaped to England and learned the dark arts of anarchy and combat--cracking safes and planting bombs and killing with his bare hands--from a collection of British spies, beloved by Winston Churchill, who altered the war in Europe with their covert tactics. With his newfound skills, La Rochefoucauld returned to France and organized Resistance cells, blew up fortified compounds and munitions factories, interfered with Germany's wartime missions, and executed Nazi officers. Caught by the Germans, La Rochefoucauld withstood months of torture and escaped his own death sentence, not once but twice.

More than just a fast-paced, real-life thriller, The Saboteur is also a deep dive into an endlessly fascinating historical moment, revealing the previously untold story of a network of commandos who battled evil, bravely worked to change the course of history, and helped inspire the creation of America's own Central Intelligence Agency.