There were many reasons why [Virginia Hall] was willingly jeopardizing her life far from home in aid of a foreign country … perhaps foremost among them was that it had been so long since she had felt so thrillingly alive … [Virginia] intended to go on to the end, wherever the battle took her. She was prepared to take whatever risks, face down any dangers. Total war against the Third Reich might perversely offer her one last hope of personal peace.
-- Narration (Prologue)

Importance: This quote, taken from the book's Prologue, is the personal side of the explanation why Virginia Hall became the activist that she did - on the side of the French Resistance in World War II. The other side of that explanation is that she had a profound personal belief in service in support of the greater good, service that took the form of fighting the Nazis (the Third Reich) in any...