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Avenue of spies : a true story of terror, espionage, and one American family's heroic resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris / Alex Kershaw.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Crown Publishers, [2015]Copyright date: ©2015Edition: First editionDescription: x, 286 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780804140034
  • 0804140030
Other title:
  • True story of terror, espionage, and one American family's heroic resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • D802.F82 P37476 2015
Contents:
City of darkness. The fall ; To save France ; The fourteenth ; Day trippers ; Spies of summer ; Winged victory -- Armies of the night. On doctor's orders ; Avenue Boche ; The shadow game ; Number 11 ; The last summer ; The last metro -- Night and fog. Guests of the Reich ; The Coup : July 20, 1944 ; Ave Maria ; Days of glory ; Night and fog ; Neuengamme ; Deliverance -- After the fall. One day in May ; His Majesty's service ; Justice ; Les Invalides.
Scope and content: Brings to life the true story of an American doctor and his family in Paris, and his heroic espionage efforts during World War II. Exclusive Avenue Foch was Paris's hotbed of spies, secret police, informers, and Vichy collaborators. So when the couple at number 11-- American physician Sumner Jackson and his Swiss-born wife Toquette-- joined the French Resistance, they knew the stakes were extraordinarily high. They would be risking not only their own lives but that of their only child, twelve-year-old Phillip. There was no more dangerous place in all of Occupied Europe than their street-- Nazis had commandeered almost every building. At number 31 was the "mad sadist" Theodor Dannecker, charged with deporting French Jews to concentration camps. Number 72 housed the Parisian headquarters of the Gestapo. As their Nazi neighbors rounded up Jews and ruthlessly destroyed all opposition, the Jacksons stepped up their own private war against Hitler. From the American Hospital, Sumner smuggled fallen Allied crewmen out of France. And Toquette agreed to allow the Goélette network of the Resistance to use their home as a drop box for vital information en route to Britain. As D-Day neared, the noose began to tighten; when the family's secret was finally discovered, they were sent on a journey into the black heart of the war-torn continent from which there was little chance of return. Drawing upon a wealth of primary source material and extensive interviews with Phillip Jackson, Alex Kershaw re-creates the City of Light during its darkest days.--Adapted from book jacket.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Non-Fiction Davis (Central) Library Non-Fiction Non-Fiction 940.5344 KER 1 Available T00610960
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The best-selling author of The Liberator brings to life the incredible true story of an American doctor in Paris, and his heroic espionage efforts during World War II

The leafy Avenue Foch, one of the most exclusive residential streets in Nazi-occupied France, was Paris's hotbed of daring spies, murderous secret police, amoral informers, and Vichy collaborators. So when American physician Sumner Jackson, who lived with his wife and young son Phillip at Number 11, found himself drawn into the Liberation network of the French resistance, he knew the stakes were impossibly high. Just down the road at Number 31 was the "mad sadist" Theodor Dannecker, an Eichmann protégé charged with deporting French Jews to concentration camps. And Number 84 housed the Parisian headquarters of the Gestapo, run by the most effective spy hunter in Nazi Germany.

From his office at the American Hospital, itself an epicenter of Allied and Axis intrigue, Jackson smuggled fallen Allied fighter pilots safely out of France, a job complicated by the hospital director's close ties to collaborationist Vichy. After witnessing the brutal round-up of his Jewish friends, Jackson invited Liberation to officially operate out of his home at Number 11--but the noose soon began to tighten. When his secret life was discovered by his Nazi neighbors, he and his family were forced to undertake a journey into the dark heart of the war-torn continent from which there was little chance of return.

Drawing upon a wealth of primary source material and extensive interviews with Phillip Jackson, Alex Kershaw recreates the City of Light during its darkest days. The untold story of the Jackson family anchors the suspenseful narrative, and Kershaw dazzles readers with the vivid immediacy of the best spy thrillers. Awash with the tense atmosphere of World War II's Europe, Avenue of Spies introduces us to the brave doctor who risked everything to defy Hitler.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [231]-271) and index.

City of darkness. The fall ; To save France ; The fourteenth ; Day trippers ; Spies of summer ; Winged victory -- Armies of the night. On doctor's orders ; Avenue Boche ; The shadow game ; Number 11 ; The last summer ; The last metro -- Night and fog. Guests of the Reich ; The Coup : July 20, 1944 ; Ave Maria ; Days of glory ; Night and fog ; Neuengamme ; Deliverance -- After the fall. One day in May ; His Majesty's service ; Justice ; Les Invalides.

Brings to life the true story of an American doctor and his family in Paris, and his heroic espionage efforts during World War II. Exclusive Avenue Foch was Paris's hotbed of spies, secret police, informers, and Vichy collaborators. So when the couple at number 11-- American physician Sumner Jackson and his Swiss-born wife Toquette-- joined the French Resistance, they knew the stakes were extraordinarily high. They would be risking not only their own lives but that of their only child, twelve-year-old Phillip. There was no more dangerous place in all of Occupied Europe than their street-- Nazis had commandeered almost every building. At number 31 was the "mad sadist" Theodor Dannecker, charged with deporting French Jews to concentration camps. Number 72 housed the Parisian headquarters of the Gestapo. As their Nazi neighbors rounded up Jews and ruthlessly destroyed all opposition, the Jacksons stepped up their own private war against Hitler. From the American Hospital, Sumner smuggled fallen Allied crewmen out of France. And Toquette agreed to allow the Goélette network of the Resistance to use their home as a drop box for vital information en route to Britain. As D-Day neared, the noose began to tighten; when the family's secret was finally discovered, they were sent on a journey into the black heart of the war-torn continent from which there was little chance of return. Drawing upon a wealth of primary source material and extensive interviews with Phillip Jackson, Alex Kershaw re-creates the City of Light during its darkest days.--Adapted from book jacket.

11 22 37 68 133 138 141

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Part 1 City of Darkness
  • Chapter 1 The Fall (p. 3)
  • Chapter 2 To Save France (p. 11)
  • Chapter 3 The Fourteenth (p. 21)
  • Chapter 4 Day Trippers (p. 29)
  • Chapter 5 Spies of Summer (p. 33)
  • Chapter 6 Winged Victory (p. 41)
  • Part 2 Armies of the Night
  • Chapter 7 On Doctor's Orders (p. 55)
  • Chapter 8 Avenue Boche (p. 65)
  • Chapter 9 The Shadow Game (p. 75)
  • Chapter 10 Number 11 (p. 81)
  • Chapter 11 The Last Summer (p. 93)
  • Chapter 12 The Last Metro (p. 109)
  • Part 3 Night and Fog
  • Chapter 13 Guests of the Reich (p. 123)
  • Chapter 14 The Coup: July 20, 1944 (p. 139)
  • Chapter 15 Ave Maria (p. 147)
  • Chapter 16 Days of Glory (p. 161)
  • Chapter 17 Night and Fog (p. 177)
  • Chapter 18 Neuengamme (p. 185)
  • Chapter 19 Deliverance (p. 191)
  • Part 4 After the Fall
  • Chapter 20 One Day in May (p. 203)
  • Chapter 21 His Majesty's Service (p. 209)
  • Chapter 22 Justice (p. 217)
  • Epilogue Les Invalides (p. 225)
  • Acknowledgments (p. 229)
  • Notes (p. 231)
  • Bibliography (p. 267)
  • Index (p. 273)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

In occupied Paris, murderers are treated as heroes and the innocent scrounge for food. Along one street, Avenue Foch, an American family, the Jacksons, try to maintain a façade of normality as they do all they can to aid the French Resistance. This is an extremely dangerous task made all the more perilous now that the Nazis have set up headquarters on this very same street. -Kershaw (The Liberator) tells the incredible story of how the Jacksons secretly battled the German occupation of France during World War II, playing a desperate game of cat and mouse with the abhorrently sinister and determined Nazis. This biographical treatment of one family's struggle to remain alive and together in Paris during one of the darkest periods in that city's long history will keep listeners engaged. Mark Deakins's excellent narration is filled with tension as listeners follow the Jacksons through their many ordeals in a nightmarish Europe yearning for freedom. VERDICT Recommended for World War II buffs and biography lovers. ["Written with an engaging and expressive style, Kershaw's stirring tale of good and evil in the City of Light will have wide appeal": LJ 6/1/15 review of the Crown hc.]-Denis Frias, Mississauga Lib. Syst., Ont. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

WWII historian Kershaw (The Liberator) revisits the valorous actions of American surgeon Sumner Jackson who, along with his French wife, Toquette, and young son, Phillip, falsified the medical records of Allied pilots and troops at the American Hospital in Paris to aid them in escaping the Nazis. During the four years of German occupation, the Jackson residence-which was located on the same avenue as the Gestapo headquarters-became a valuable conduit for French resistance fighters, who from the fall of 1940 had been pitted against the Nazi Schutzstaffel and their informers. Kershaw, using war documents and interviews with the aging Phillip, brilliantly captures the deadly cat-and-mouse game between Charles de Gaulle's underground and the Nazis and Vichy fascists. As the Gestapo infiltrate the resistance and discover its secrets, the Jacksons suffer the same fate as their friends, enduring the unspeakable torment of those they aided in the closing moments of the war. Kershaw's sobering look at a family's heroism in one of the history's darkest hours vividly shows what war costs in human terms. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* At first glance, Dr. Sumner Jackson and his Swiss-born wife, Toquette, seemed unlikely candidates to become heroes of the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation. Before the war, Sumner was a moderately prosperous surgeon, and the couple lived on the chic Avenue de Foch with their young son. But the two were made of stern stuff; he had been schooled as a battlefield surgeon during WWI, and she had served valiantly as a surgical nurse throughout the conflict. They both ardently believed in public service and were alarmed and revolted by the rise of fascism. Still, with the outbreak of WWII, Sumner wanted to return to the U.S. with his family. They stayed, largely at the insistence of Toquette, who wouldn't leave her beloved Paris. When the Nazis invaded France, Sumner labored again to treat battlefield casualties. Once the occupation of Paris commenced, the Jacksons slowly moved to outright support of the Resistance, hiding and treating downed fliers and Resistance fighters and serving as a conduit passing information between the Resistance in France and controllers in Britain. Kershaw tells their story in an intense, moving account that also serves to vividly describe the life of ordinary Parisians under the occupation.--Freeman, Jay Copyright 2015 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

The saga of a well-situated American doctor and his Swiss-born wife caught up in Resistance activity in occupied Paris. Kershaw (The Liberator: One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau, 2012, etc.) tells a sympathetic story of an American doctor at Neuilly-sur-Seine's prestigious American Hospital in Paris, a veteran of World War I who married a Parisian and resolved, with her and their adolescent son, to stay in Paris and carry on when the Nazis arrived. Dr. Sumner Jackson was the chief surgeon of the American Hospital, a somewhat forbidding, short-tempered, enormously capable doctor who decided to stay in Paris when the Nazis invaded, mainly because his wife, Toquette, was so ardently opposed to living in America. Many of the other chief doctors at the hospital decamped (or committed suicide), but Jackson stayed on, making sure the hospital stayed fullhe evacuated the French and protected the English and American POW patients by falsifying recordsso that the Germans would not think to close it. Kershaw also depicts the tightening of the SS tentacles on life in Paris thanks to the impassioned work of Paris Gestapo chief Helmut "Bones" Knochen, who lodged on the chic Avenue Foch, where Jackson and his family also lived. The avenue, named for the hero of World War I who had shamed the vanquished Germans at Versaillesan irony not lost on the occupiersbecame the locus of Nazi power in Paris and was thus attractive to the leaders of the Resistance, who enlisted Toquette to use the family's place as a spy drop. Famine, patriotism, collaboration, deportationKershaw portrays the suspense and terror of this time in the plight of one well-intentioned American-French family caught up in the horror. A tenderly engaging saga of solid research and emotional connection. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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