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Book Cover for: Band of Sisters: Madeleine Pauliac, the Women of the Blue Squadron, and Their Daring Rescue Missions in the Last Days of World War II, Philippe Maynial

Band of Sisters: Madeleine Pauliac, the Women of the Blue Squadron, and Their Daring Rescue Missions in the Last Days of World War II

Philippe Maynial

Band of Sisters tells the dramatic story of Madeleine Pauliac, a French army doctor, and a group of Red Cross nurses and ambulance drivers--known as the Blue Squadron. At the request of Charles DeGualle, the group was sent to rescue French soldiers and civilians who had been captured, injured, or stranded during World War II. Written from letters, diary entries and interviews, the book recounts their rescue missions in Germany, Russia, and Poland in 1945, in the final days of the war and in the first months after the German defeat.

It's a previously unknown story of heroism and daring by a remarkable group of women, none more brave and intrepid than Pauliac herself, who was the author's aunt that he would never know.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
  • Publish Date: Feb 4th, 2025
  • Pages: 144
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 0.00in - 0.00in - 0.00in - 0.00lb
  • EAN: 9781538198797
  • Categories: Wars & Conflicts - World War II - European TheaterWomenModern - General

About the Author

Philippe Maynial is a film executive turned writer and the nephew of Madeline Pauliac, the main character of the narrative. Before he embarked on his research into his aunt's experiences in World War II, Maynial spent his entire career in the film industry. He currently resides in France.

Richard Bernstein has been a prominent journalist and writer for forty years, first with Time magazine, then for a quarter of a century at The New York Times, and currently as a freelance writer and editor living in Brooklyn, NY. His foreign assignments for The Times included the posts of bureau chief at the United Nations, the Paris bureau, and Berlin. For six years, he was one of the paper's daily book critics.

Praise for this book

Philippe Maynial recounts the journeys of these women so magnificently, that he gives hope to those who fight for freedom.

--François Hollande, President of France

This book is a passionate account of the life journey of these heroines. It is admirable of the author to have crafted this work of memory, which is an affectionate recognition of the commitment of women.

--Marisol Touraine, Former Minister of Social Affairs and Health of France

Beautifully and movingly told by Madeleine Pauliac's nephew, Philippe Maynial, who knows her story better than anyone, this is recounting of an all-too-brief life will break and mend the heart.

--Howard A. Rodman, Former President, Writers Guild of America, West