The Saboteur, by Paul Kix

I've said it before and will say it again: World War 2 teems with amazing, dramatic stories of heroism and greatness.  Add to that list Paul Kix's The Saboteur: The Aristocrat Who Became France's Most Daring Anti-Nazi Commando.  Kix pored over family records, military records, and personal accounts to put together this gripping account of Robert de la Rochefoucauld's activities during WW2.  And what a story it is.

When the Nazis marched into France, the French gave little resistance.  Many in France considered Nazi occupation was preferable to Nazi bombardment.  As the German occupation set in, Robert de la Rochefoucauld, a brash teenager from a family with a long aristocratic history, became angrier and angrier.  Nazi military leaders moved into the family home, leaving the family to occupy one wing while the Nazis used the other wing as a headquarters and bunkhouse.  This imposition reflected, in La Rochefoucauld's mind, the great insult of the Germans making themselves at home in France and subjugating the French.

Inspired by the broadcasts from general-in-exile Charles de Gaulle, Robert determined to make his way to London and volunteer for de Gaulle's Resistance. Getting out of France was an adventure. When he got to Spain he was thrown in prison, along with a couple of RAF pilots, while they awaited intervention from the U.K.  Thanks to British officials, Robert made his way to England, where, after meeting with de Gaulle himself, he agreed to join a British unit training for secret missions into France.

Robert parachuted back into France and embraced the missions with a vengeance.  One of his primary roles was leading sabotage missions, strategically placing explosives to shut down an arms plant.  He was also instrumental in obtaining weapons for the Resistance.  It was risky, but Robert knew the risks.  Sure enough, after a few months he was caught and spent miserable months in prison, being tortured and interrogated by the Nazis.  True to his training and to his country, he did not betray the Resistance movement.


When his Nazi jailers couldn't get good intel out of him, they sentenced him to be executed.  But on the way to his execution, he escaped.  In a scene that might be unbelievable in an action movie, he evaded his pursuers' gunshots, stole a Nazi dignitary's car, drove it through a Nazi roadblock, and dumped the car in a quarry.  His career continued with acts of escape, daring-do, and heroism.  Through luck and skill and training and maybe some miracles, he survived the war and was recognized for his bravery.

Kix's narrative is straightforward and unembellished.  The Saboteur is gripping, not because of Kix's writing, but because of the remarkable experiences of la Rochefoucauld.  That, I suppose is the mark of a skilled biographical writer: I did not put the book down thinking, "Wow, Kix sure can write!"  My only thought was "Wow, that la Rochefoucauld fellow was amazing!"  The Saboteur gives a great perspective on the war in France and chronicles one of France's great heroes. 


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!