Josephine Baker’s Secret War

Hanna Diamond tells the story of Josephine Baker, a star of stage and screen turned wartime intelligence operative.

About the event

Josephine Baker made her name as a dancer on the stages of Paris, after moving there in 1925 from the United States. By the 1930s, she was one of the world’s most famous performers. But when the Second World War broke out, instead of returning to America, she became a spy working for French military intelligence.

A black woman operating in a white male environment, Baker used her celebrity status as a cover for her wartime work across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Drawing on previously unseen material, Hanna Diamond reveals the vital role Baker played throughout the war, from counterintelligence work for the Allied landing in North Africa to service in the French Air Force in 1944-45.

Additional information

This event is eligible for our 20% ticket bundle discount.

Book tickets to three or more different events across the festival and you can save 20%. Tickets must be purchased in the same transaction and the discount will automatically be applied within the basket.

About the speaker

Hanna Diamond is Professor of French History at Cardiff University. An expert on the social and cultural history of France during the Second World War, she is the author of ‘Fleeing Hitler: France 1940’ and ‘Women and the Second World War in France, 1939-48’.