Last Hope Island

Praise

“Last Hope Island is a book to be welcomed, both for the past it recovers and also, quite simply, for being such a pleasant tome to read. . . . Certain of these refugee groups have had their stories told before . . . but Olson’s book is the first to weave this all together. . . . It’s a well-written and well-illustrated book, and deeply researched.”—The Washington Post
 
“In Last Hope Island [Lynne Olson] argues an arresting new thesis: that the people of occupied Europe and the expatriate leaders did far more for their own liberation than historians and the public alike recognize. . . . The scale of the organization she describes is breathtaking.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“A brisk and compelling portrait of wartime Britain.”—The Wall Street Journal

“[A] pointed volume . . . [Olson] tells a great story and has a fine eye for character.”—The Boston Globe

“Spellbinding . . . [a] masterful account of England in World War II . . . [Olson] brings both a journalist’s eye and a novelist’s command of character and setting to this subject. . . . For American readers inclined to begin their World War II reading after U.S. entry into the conflict, Last Hope Island opens a fascinating trove of stories, characters and facts. . . . Olson’s book, ten years in the making, not only helps illuminate the past but also serves as an insightful backdrop for today’s discussion of the future of twenty-first-century European alliances.”—BookPage, “Top Pick”

“A rip-roaring saga of hairbreadth escape, espionage, and resistance during World War II, Lynne Olson’s Last Hope Island salvages the forgotten stories of a collection of heroic souls from seven countries overrun by Hitler who find refuge in Churchill’s London and then seek payback in ways large and small. In thrilling fashion, Olson shows us that hell hath no fury like a small country scorned.”—Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake

“Lynne Olson is a master storyteller, and she brings her great gifts to this riveting narrative of the resistance to Hitler’s war machine. You will be thrilled and moved—and enraged, saddened, and shocked—by the courage and steadfastness, human waste and stupidity, carelessness and nobility, of an epic struggle. Last Hope Island is a smashing good tale.”—Evan Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Being Nixon

“In a series of compelling books in recent years, Lynne Olson has established herself as an authoritative and entertaining chronicler of perhaps the largest single event in human history—the Second World War. Now comes Last Hope Island, a powerful and surprising account of how figures from Nazi-occupied Europe found Great Britain an essential shield and sword in the struggle against Hitler. This is a wonderful work of history, told in Olson’s trademark style.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion

“You wouldn’t think that there would still be untold tales about World War II, but Lynne Olson, a master of that period of history, has found some. Not only does she narrate them with her usual verve, but her book reminds us how much we unthinkingly assume that it was the United States and Britain alone who defeated the Nazis in Western Europe. Last Hope Island is a valuable, and immensely readable, corrective.”—Adam Hochschild, New York Times bestselling author of King Leopold’s Ghost

“This is a history book that reads like the best thrillers. . . . Olson offers a fascinating view of the war and its aftermath, less from a military than from a high-level civilian perspective. . . . The many individuals are finely drawn, major developments are well covered, and the book provides an unusual and very insightful angle on the war.”—Booklist (starred review)