Twenty-five years after her passing, Audrey Hepburn remains the most
beloved of all Hollywood stars, known as much for her role as UNICEF
ambassador as for films like Roman Holiday and Breakfast at
Tiffany's. Several biographies have chronicled her stardom, but none
has covered her intense experiences through five years of Nazi
occupation in the Netherlands. According to her son, Luca Dotti, "The
war made my mother who she was." Audrey Hepburn's war included
participation in the Dutch Resistance, working as a doctor's assistant
during the "Bridge Too Far" battle of Arnhem, the brutal execution of
her uncle, and the ordeal of the Hunger Winter of 1944. She also had to
contend with the fact that her father was a Nazi agent and her mother
was pro-Nazi for the first two years of the occupation. But the war
years also brought triumphs as Audrey became Arnhem's most famous young
ballerina. Audrey's own reminiscences, new interviews with people who
knew her in the war, wartime diaries, and research in classified Dutch
archives shed light on the riveting, untold story of Audrey Hepburn
under fire in World War II. Also included is a section of color and
black-and-white photos. Many of these images are from Audrey's personal
collection and are published here for the first time.
