VE Day 80 Speaker Series: Hanna Diamond – ‘Josephine Baker’s Secret War’

Hanna Diamond – Josephine Baker’s Secret War 

Before the Second World War, Josephine Baker was one of the most famous performers in the world. Hanna Diamond’s ground-breaking book tells the full story of Baker’s actions for the French and Allied powers in World War Two. Drawing on previously unseen material, Diamond reveals the vital role Baker played throughout the war, from counterintelligence work for the Allied landings in North Africa to serving in the French Air Force in 1944–45. A woman of colour operating in a white male environment, Baker exploited her celebrity to enable her war work across France, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, and the Middle East.