Resistance: A Frenchwoman's Journal of the War

Agnes Humbert · Barbara Mellor

Sep 2008 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Joyce Bean

About this audiobook

Agnès Humbert was an art historian in Paris during the German occupation in 1940. Though she might well have weathered the oppressive regime, Humbert was stirred to action by the atrocities she witnessed. In an act of astonishing bravery, she joined forces with several colleagues to form an organized resistance-very likely the first such group to fight back against the occupation. (In fact, their newsletter, Resistance, gave the French Resistance its name.) In the throes of their struggle for freedom, the members of Humbert's group were betrayed to the Gestapo; Humbert herself was imprisoned. In immediate, electrifying detail, Humbert describes her time in prison; her deportation to Germany, where for more than two years she endured a string of brutal labor camps; and the horror of discovering that seven of her friends were executed by a firing squad. But through the direst of conditions and ill health in the labor camps, Humbert retains hope for herself, for her friends, and for humanity. Originally published in France in 1946, the book was soon forgotten and is now translated into English for the first time. Resistance is more than a firsthand account of wartime France; it is the work of a brave, witty, and forceful woman, a true believer who refused to go quietly.

Ratings and reviews

It's alright. She's really full of herself. She didn't do much resisting before ending up in prison. It's a good story about life as a German prisoner in a German factory. But she's over dramatic about how bad she had it without regard to other people. She has a habit of demonizing the Pols as trashy people. Maybe if France and French citizens we're treated like the Pols and Poland were treated by the Germans and Russians she would understand why they act that way. But she's French.

About the author

Agnès Humbert was a distinguished art historian and a member of the Musee de l'Homme group in the French Resistance.

Barbara Mellor is a translator specializing in the fine and decorative arts, art history, architectural history, fashion, design, and all things French.

Joyce Bean is an accomplished audiobook narrator and director. In addition to being an AudioFile Earphones Award winner, she has been nominated multiple times for a prestigious Audie Award, including for Good-bye and Amen by Beth Gutcheon.