Sisters in Resistance, Tilar J. Mazzeo
Sisters in Resistance, Tilar J. Mazzeo
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Sisters in Resistance
How a German Spy, a Banker's Wife, and Mussolini's Daughter Outwitted the Nazis

Author: Tilar J. Mazzeo

Narrator: Lisa Flanagan

Unabridged: 8 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/21/2022


Synopsis

In a tale as twisted as any spy thriller, discover how three women delivered critical evidence of Axis war crimes to Allied forces during World War II: “Mazzeo is a fascinating storyteller” (New York Journal of Books).
 
In 1944, news of secret diaries kept by Italy's Foreign Minister, Galeazzo Ciano, had permeated public consciousness. What wasn't reported, however, was how three women—a Fascist's daughter, a German spy, and an American socialite—risked their lives to ensure the diaries would reach the Allies, who would later use them as evidence against the Nazis at Nuremberg.
In 1944, Benito Mussolini's daughter, Edda, gave Hitler and her father an ultimatum: release her husband, Galeazzo Ciano, from prison, or risk her leaking her husband's journals to the press. To avoid the peril of exposing Nazi lies, Hitler and Mussolini hunted for the diaries for months, determined to destroy them.

Hilde Beetz, a German spy, was deployed to seduce Ciano to learn the diaries' location and take them from Edda. As the seducer became the seduced, Hilde converted as a double agent, joining forces with Edda to save Ciano from execution. When this failed, Edda fled to Switzerland with Hilde’s daring assistance to keep Ciano's final wish: to see the diaries published for use by the Allies. When American spymaster Allen Dulles learned of Edda's escape, he sent in socialite Frances De Chollet, an “accidental” spy, telling her to find Edda, gain her trust, and, crucially, hand the diaries over to the Americans. Together, they succeeded in preserving one of the most important documents of WWII.
         
Drawing from in‑depth research and first-person interviews with people who witnessed these events, Mazzeo gives readers a riveting look into this little‑known moment in history and shows how, without Edda, Hilde, and Frances's involvement, certain convictions at Nuremberg would never have been possible.

About Tilar J. Mazzeo

Tilar J. Mazzeo is a cultural historian, biographer, and passionate student of wine and food culture. A member of the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association, she divides her time between the California wine country and Maine, where she is an assistant professor of English at Colby College.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sarah on August 08, 2022

Knowing only the barest outline of how World War II played out in Italy, I found this nonfiction book featuring Mussolini's daughter and a Germany spy to be fascinating. The author acknowledges the flawed nature of the highlighted women - Edda Mussolini Ciano and Hilde Beetz were supporters of fasci......more

Goodreads review by Tanja ~ KT Book Reviews on June 22, 2022

I am constantly amazed at the power and perseverance of women and what they have done for this world. It is an inescapable fact that when women are left to the task they can do wondrous things for the greater good. ~Tanja *Thank you to @grandcentralPub for sharing this title with me. Follow me on I......more

Goodreads review by Elvira on March 23, 2023

Non fiction based around the Ciano diaries and the fall of fascism in Italy. This is a whole part of history that I never really knew about prior to this. So fascinating to learn that the key people would be Mussolini’s daughter who went up against her dictator father and blackmailed Hitler, famous......more

Goodreads review by Jozef on January 07, 2023

An interesting perspective of the Axis alignment during WWII from those closely associated within Mussilini's circle.......more

Goodreads review by Janilyn on July 20, 2022

The more I learn about the untold stories of WWII, the more I learn of untapped chasms of stories that have yet to be Told. I’d never given much thought to Mussolini’s children or in-laws until this book appeared on my radar. Secret diaries and the race to procure them is the terrific basis for a movi......more


Quotes

“An important, often harrowing, and until now little-known story of the Holocaust: how thousands of children were rescued from the Warsaw ghetto by a Polish woman of extraordinary daring and moral courage.”—Joseph Kanon, Author of Leaving Berlin, Praise for Irena’s Children

“Mazzeo chronicles a ray of hope in desperate times in this compelling biography of a brave woman who refused to give up.”—Kirkus Reviews, Praise for Irena's Children

“Mazzeo reveals a hotbed of illicit affairs and deadly intrigue, as well as stunning acts of defiance and treachery.”—Brad Thor, The Today Show Summer Reads, Praise for The Hotel on Place Vendome

"Tilar J. Mazzeo lifts the veil to reveal a lesser-known narrative of scandal and subterfuge . . . A work of history that reads as enticingly as a novel."—Harper's Bazaar, Praise for Hotel on Place Vendome

“An enticing stew of biography and history.”—USA Today, Praise for The Widow Clicquot

“The story of a woman who was a smashing success long before anyone conceptualized the glass ceiling.”—New York Times Book Review, Praise for The Widow Clicquot

“A magnificent window through which to understand [Coco Chanel] and her milieu . . . Impeccable research and crafting make a seemingly narrow topic feel infinitely important.”—Kirkus Reviews, Praise for The Secret of Chanel No. 5

“Vivid, compelling, and unputdownable . . . Eliza Hamilton finally takes her place in the pantheon of remarkable American women who, no less than the men they loved, built this nation.”—Christopher Andersen, #1 New York Times bestselling author, Praise for Eliza Hamilton