View source for Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{short description|2011 book by Hal Vaughan}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War
| title_orig    =
| translator    =
| image         = Coco Chanel Sleeping with the Enemy.jpg
| caption       =
| author        = [[Hal Vaughan]]
| illustrator   =
| cover_artist  =
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| series        =
| genre         =
| publisher     = [[Doubleday (publisher)|Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group]]
| release_date  = 2011
| media_type    =
| pages         = 336
| isbn          = 978-0-3074-7591-6
| preceded_by   =
| followed_by   =
}}
'''''Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War''''' is a 2011 book by journalist [[Hal Vaughan]], it was published by [[Doubleday (publisher)|Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group]], now part of [[Penguin Random House]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Sleeping with the Enemy by Hal Vaughan |url=https://knopfdoubleday.com/2011/08/16/sleeping-with-the-enemy-by-hal-vaughan/ |website=Knopf Doubleday}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sleeping with the Enemy by Hal Vaughan: 9780307475916 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/199577/sleeping-with-the-enemy-by-hal-vaughan/ |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com}}</ref> The book is a biography of French fashion designer [[Coco Chanel]], detailing her life from humble beginnings growing up in relative poverty, to her meteoric rise in French and British society and emergence as a fashion icon.
The book also details her active collaboration with the Nazi intelligence service, the [[Sicherheitsdienst]], during [[World War II|the second World War]]. Although it had been known that Chanel was a mistress of a Nazi officer, the extent of her Nazi collaboration during the war had previously been unknown prior to the publication of the book.
==Narrative==
The biography details Chanel's life, beginning in her early childhood, where she was born into poverty. She was born Gabrielle Chanel in 1883, in the [[Loire Valley]] of France. She lived in a home for the poor until the age of 12, where upon her mother's death, she moved to a Catholic orphanage. At the age of 18, she took the name "Coco" and worked as a singer at a [[cabaret]] and as a seamstress. The book then explains her rise among the French and British aristocracy, first by forming a relationship with former cavalry officer and French socialite [[Etienne Balsan]] and then her relationship with English polo player [[Arthur Edward Capel]] who financed her first fashion boutiques in Paris. Chanel continued her rise in British society by befriending [[Winston Churchill]] and becoming the mistress of the Duke of Westminster [[Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster|Hugh Grosvenor]]. After the start of the [[Second World War]], Chanel engaged in a romantic relationship with Nazi intelligence officer Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage (known as "Spatz"). During the war, Chanel became a spy, and an active collaborator for [[Nazi Germany]]. In 1943, Chanel was an instrumental part of operation Modelhut (Model Hat), in which Nazi intelligence officers, using Chanel's position of prestige among the British aristocracy, attempted to get a message to Winston Churchill stating that some [[SS]] officers, operating independently of [[Adolf Hitler]] and the rest of Nazi Germany, wished to broker a cease fire. After the war Chanel was able to keep her Nazi past hidden from French society, and the world. She paid off General [[Walter Schellenberg]], who was her commander during operation Modelhut, to keep her out of his memoirs. After the war, Chanel was able to cunningly re-integrate into French society and continued her rise as a style icon.
The book also documents Chanel's fervent antisemitism, including her attempts to use contemporary Nazi laws to wrestle control of the perfume division, [[Chanel No 5]], from her Jewish co-investors [[Pierre Wertheimer]] and his brother [[Jacques Wertheimer|Jacques]].
==Reception==
In a negative review, in the ''[[New York Times]]'', writer [[Judith Warner]] criticized Vaughan for relying too much on the primary source material without further analysis or elaboration. She states: "Vaughan seems to have felt as though his rich source materials could speak for themselves, but they don't - and he doesn't succeed in lending authority to the accounts of contemporary witnesses who were, undoubtedly, unreliable".<ref name="Warner New York Times">{{cite web |last1=Warner |first1=Judith |title=Was Coco Chanel a Nazi Agent? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/books/review/sleeping-with-the-enemy-coco-chanels-secret-war-by-hal-vaughan-book-review.html |website=The New York Times |date=2 September 2011}}</ref> Warner further criticized Vaughan for failing to provide the context in which Chanel was able to seamlessly integrate back into French society after the war.<ref name="Warner New York Times" /> Warner concludes: "Despite all he knows about Chanel, Vaughan often appears to be as beguiled, disarmed and charmed by Coco as were the men in her life".<ref name="Warner New York Times" />
In a mixed review, in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', author and journalist [[Marie Arana]] states "It's an astonishing story. And yet, its telling is far from perfect", further criticized Vaughan's writing style, stating "Vaughan's clichés and non-sequiturs abound - some of his phrases are simply not English".<ref name="Arana Washington Post">{{cite web |last1=Arana |first1=Marie |title=“Sleeping With the Enemy,” by Hal Vaughan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/sleeping-with-the-enemy-by-hal-vaughan/2011/08/16/gIQAisAeQJ_story.html |website=Washington Post |date=19 August 2011}}</ref> But regarding the book's drawbacks, Arana states: "But mid-book, the story is so gripping, the questions so provocative that, like his publisher, we no longer care".<ref name="Arana Washington Post" />
With regard to her collaborationist past, [[Michael Korda]] applauded Vaughan stating: "Hal Vaughan has done a stupendous job of research", and Korda further praised Vaughan for his detailed and nuanced portrait of Chanel, stating: "What is of interest is Chanel herself, and on the subject Vaughan draws a brilliant portrait".<ref name="Korda The Daily Beast">{{cite web |last1=Korda |first1=Michael |title='Coco Chanel’s Secret Nazi History': New Book by Hal Vaugh Reveals |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/coco-chanels-secret-nazi-history-new-book-by-hal-vaugh-reveals |website=The Daily Beast |language=en |date=13 August 2011}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:2011 books]]
[[Category:History books about Europe]]