In this episode, we catch up with WW2 author and historian Damien Lewis, discussing his brand new book ‘The Flame of Resistance: American Beauty. French Hero. British Spy’.  In December 2021 Josephine Baker, music hall and movie star, and civil rights activist, entered the French Panthéon – the nation’s highest honour. Now Damien Lewis reveals her gripping wartime story.It was during WW2 that Josephine Baker, the world's richest and most glamorous Black female entertainer, became an Allied spy. This is the extraordinary story of her heroic personal resistance to Nazi Germany. Prior to the war, Josephine Baker was a music hall diva renowned for her risque song and dance routines, her movie roles and her beauty; she was one of the most photographed female performers in the world. But when Nazi Germany seized her adopted home, Paris, she was banned from the stage, along with all 'negroes and Jews'.  Yet, instead of returning to America, she vowed to stay and to fight. Overnight she went from performer to Resistance hero and spy.

Drawing on a plethora of new and unpublished historical material, first-hand interviews and rigorous research, including previously undisclosed letters and journals and newly-released government files, Lewis upends the conventional story of Josephine Baker’s war, revealing that her mark on history went far beyond the confines of what she is universally known for – her stardom. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com