The Life Savers (Three Fearless Women and a Secret Network in the Great War)

World War I. Thousands of soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. The German Army executing anyone who helped them. But three fearless women — a nurse, a teacher, and a princess — ran a secret network to save them. An astonishing true story of heroism, betrayal, and daring by the New York Times bestselling author Candice Millard.

“It is the stern necessity of war that the punishment for hostile acts falls not only on the guilty but the innocent as well.” —German Field Marshal von der Goltz Pasha.

In the summer of 1914, Germany invaded neutral Belgium, which fell swiftly. As martial law descended upon the country, British nurse Edith Cavell, French school teacher Louise Thuliez, and Belgian princess Marie de Croy began hiding British, French, and Belgian soldiers stranded behind enemy lines. The penalty for harboring Allied soldiers was death.

Inspired by their bravery, others took up the cause and an extraordinary network began smuggling the soldiers over the border. They hid them in secret passageways in cities and royal castles, treated their wounds, gave them money, disguises, false papers, recruited guides to ferry them to safety.

The German response grew more ferocious as hundreds of Allied soldiers slipped past them. As the danger grew the women accelerated their efforts to save more lives — but there was a traitor lurking in the network.

The Life Savers is a heart-stopping narrative showcasing indomitable women who deserve to be celebrated as some of World War I’s great heroes.