Friends of the Library to Explore New Book About Dramatic Life of Gertrude Legendre

The College of Charleston Friends of the Library will host The Washington Post National Security Editor Peter Finn on Oct. 16, 2019, for a look at the dramatic story of Gertrude Legendre, a South Carolina heiress who joined the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the CIA, and became the first American woman in uniform taken prisoner on the Western front – until her escape from Nazi Germany.

Finn’s new book, A Guest of the Reich: The Story of American Heiress Gertrude Legendre’s Dramatic Captivity and Escape from Nazi Germany, is a propulsive account of a little-known chapter in the history of World War II, as well as a fascinating portrait of an extraordinary woman. Researched in part at the College’s Special Collections Department – which holds many of Legendre’s personal papers – the book will be available for sale and signing during the event.

RELATED: Learn more about Gertrude Legendre through her personal papers housed at the College’s Special Collections Department.

Finn is the national security editor at The Washington Post and the co-author of The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle over a Forbidden Book, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. The event, which will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center (58 Coming St.) Main Auditorium, room 101, is free and open to the public.

This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Library and the College of Charleston Southern Studies Program.