Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy is a biographical account of the Josephine Baker, entertainer, spy and activist.  Born to poverty in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906 and escaped its racial and economic constraints when she emigrated to France in 1925.  In France she gained fame and fortune as a singer and dancer in some of Paris’ leading showplaces.

The spotlight of this tome shines on the World War II years during which Josephine served as a spy for the British, Free French and Americans in France, Lisbon and Morrocco.  Her circumstances were unique.  A publicly known figure, she could not hide, she could not slip into the shadows, but could hide in plain sight.  Her fame gave her an immunity from suspicion, and entrées into the world of the well-connected, the in-the-know, those with secrets to reveal.  As she danced her way into salons, she proved her value to the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), its French counterpart, the Duexieme Bureau, the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Twelve Apostles, Vice Consuls dispatched to French North Africa to spy for President Roosevelt and made friends who would serve, protect and chronicle her. 

Her journeys took her to Lisbon, the neutral capitol where spies could spy on each other, Morrocco, where she gathered information from Vichy operatives and native leaders and front lines in Africa and Europe where she performed always without pay and never before segregated audiences.  Her service came at a high price, including nineteen months in a Casablanca clinic where she underwent several surgeries, repeatedly toyed with death, continued to gather intelligence and rejoiced at the sound of American guns announcing the commencement of Operation Torch, the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa.   Emaciated by her ordeal, she emerged from the clinic to entertain troops in difficult to reach locations, through all kinds of weather, at least once under fire, never for pay nor before a segregated audience.

Josephine was known, appreciated and honored by De Gaulle, Churchill and Roosevelt, caught in turf battles among French generals and befriended by local chieftains.

War forges unbreakable bonds.  Josephine had none stronger than her long, personal cooperation with Capt. Jacques Abtey, the French officer who would work with her on missions, care for her during her illness and pay tolls imposed by jealous rivals and enemies.  Being an undercover agent, his work was often undocumented and unappreciated.  Through it all, he supported Josephine, literally and figuratively, and chronicled her service in his books, made his own life after the war, but always remained mon ami to Josephine.

I learned much from this account.  I knew that Josephine was a St. Louis native who achieved fame in Europe, but was unaware of her role during World War II.  I had never heard of the Iberian Pact between Spain and Portugal that may have provided cover for Spain’s maintenance of neutrality.  Remembering Maurice Chevalier from American television in my youth, I was surprised to read that he had been ostracized as a collaborationist with the Germans during and after the War.

War History Network readers will appreciate Agent Josephine on several levels.  It is an inspiring tale of heroism, dedication to a cause, effective espionage, and advocacy for human rights.    It provides insights into the murkey web of American, French and British intelligence in the North African campaign.  Author Damien Lewis has enriched the World War II canon by this dive into often overlooked facet of the great conflagration.