Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War

Overall this was a very good biography about iconic clothes designer, Coco Chanel. It specifically focused on her collaboration with the German Nazi occupiers of France during World War 2, but it was an overall biography as well. The book was very readable and informative with a generous number of photos to accompany it throughout.There are some weaknesses to this book. It started out slowly immediately highlighting Chanel’s traitorous relations in the War — something that was jarring to read right from the start — with very little substantiated facts (at first) to support these assertions. But after that rough start, the book became more biographical in following a chronological approach to her life story. This leads to the next flaw. The book didn’t have much about Chanel’s childhood, which I feel is a pivotal time explaining a lot about her actions and personality later in her life. For an excellent read about this period, I suggest reading Joshua Zeitz’s wonderful book, Flapper, which provides a nuanced section about Chanel’s early life growing up in poverty, eventually being taken under the wing of a religious school. She played loose with the truth about her early life, a characteristic she displayed with aplomb through her long life. Truth was a vague concept to her, it was the drama of her story which most appealed to her.In my view, while collaborating with Nazi’s isn’t a high point in her life story, the facts leading to that moment were in keeping with Coco Chanel’s personal style. She began it successfully getting her nephew released from a Nazi prison camp after he was captured fighting against them early into World War 2. The Nazis who were no fools, used this playing card to extort her services in other ways to further their cause. Later, she unsuccessfully sought the Nazi’s help to rid herself of a contract with her Jewish partners who owned 90% of her hugely profitable perfumery. She was an actively practicing antisemite at this time, something common for those days. Ultimately, she was never convicted of wrong doing as a collaborator and never even went to trial about it, but the evidence of her involvement is tough to ignore. She was masterful in using power players to her advantage, and no one less than her long time friend, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, got the charges and the investigation against her dismissed.What Chanel accomplished in her lifetime was truly miraculous — a true rags to riches story — one where she probably became the world’s most successful and influential designers of the 20th century. She was certainly colorful and was never dull.Overall, I would give this book a 4+. But because this rating system doesn’t use scale, I give it a 4.

Wanted to review her activity during the war which was documented

Because of what I do, Coco Chanel comes up a LOT. There have been any number of classes I've had to teach about three-piece sleeves and quilted linings in suits, but I am always a little hesitant with mentioning her by name and people want to know why I am so reluctant to use her as an example.This book explains why very, very well. The author does a very good job building a case against Chanel point by point and slowly you begin to realize that, genius aside, she was a terrible person who very may well have been responsible for the deaths of untold numbers of people.I have to admit that I had heard most of this before (hence my coldness to her generally), but not in this way and not with this much detail. I was expecting an explosive "J'accuse!" with bloody detail, but this isn't that. This book slowly circles building layer on layer of her wartime activities that just leave you stunned that she wasn't at least arrested and prosecuted, much less executed for treason.I read other reviews saying that the book is dry and isn't written well and I'd agree to a point. The writing is this odd combination of storytelling and case-building. The switch between the two isn't always that interesting or compelling.Highly recommended and probably a little shocking to those who A. don't know much about France under occupation and B. have only known Chanel as a go-getting brilliant fashion icon. In the first case, well, it was a real mess and there are still families across the country recovering from it... and in the second case... it is very easy to be a go-getting fashion icon and maintain that status throughout the time of the most evil political regime Europe has ever seen - if you are sleeping with them in the Ritz while thousands and thousands of your countrymen are being murdered.The nice thing about this book is that the author doesn't discount the sheer talent the woman had. Before and after the war she was a powerhouse of style and inspiration. He doesn't discount her as a designer, he discounts her as a *person* and it is almost worse. But "Never. Again." means just that and everyone should understand what this woman did with the Nazis when she had a thousand other choices at her fingertips. All the soft bouclé, pearls, and jersey in the world can't cover *that* and make it more elegant. This book is this firm and quiet indictment of a terrible person with a real talent for design, terrible opinions and life choices, and the ability to manipulate her public and take advantage of any situation she could.

I bought this book used from thrift book and it arrived in perfect condition.. Pretty interesting and eye opening book.. Don't want to give up anything... Im not really a Channel fan but thought her actions were super interesting.. Treat yourself and buy the book

This work is well named. However, the name does not cover Chanel's treachery in serving the Nazis. Having grown up regarding Chanel as a splendid couturier, and Chanel Number 5 as an especially nice scent, I was disappointed in her virulent antisemitism, although she was far from alone in that. It seemed to be endemic in the upper classes of Western Europe and Britain in the 30s and 40s.Also I found her relationships with men like Winston Churchill and the Duke of Westminster quite surprising. That Churchill, knowing of her perfidious relationship with her German lover, Dinklage, protected her from trial and execution is quite appalling.There is little question that the Russian Revolution and the subsequent murder of the Royal Family horrified those in Europe that such a thing could have happened in any of the countries. Hitler saw Communism as greatly to be feared, as did the British and French. Also, historically German and England together have fought France, barring the First World War. There were remnants of that alliance referred to.It was interesting to learn how well the upper classes fared in Paris, and to see the ordinary people looking through the garbage for food. The pictures with which this book is studded are helpful, although very small on the Kindle.The research that went into this book is extensive. The writing is clear and informative. All in all, a good read.

若干作者の思い込みもあるのかな。この時代の女性は何らかの形で依存しなければいきてゆけないし、そういうところにもうすこし触れてほしかったです。

This book isn't that good.As other reviews had said it jumps around the timeline which is a bit confusing. That was ok, but I was more offended about buying a book that is poorly written and really should have had more care taken over it by the writer, editors and publisher. It's quite repetitive, with at times, whole chunks of text repeated. It's inconsistent with quoting original sources in French or English translation. It has quotations but no note on where the quote is from...for example, something like: Coco was "tired". Who said she was tired? the author? why quotation marks? It even has 'Calvary' when it means 'Cavalry'.I feel the author really, really wants you to know how much they researched, throwing in pointless things like the name of the Maitre d' at the Ritz who never features in the story, or re-printing letters from archives in a format way too small to be legible, so not really enlightening at all. Or ending paragraphs with comments about no more information being found. Yet the research is lacking, for example noting Chanel's rivalry with Schiaparelli then detailing Chanel's trip to Hollywood to design costumes without mentioning at all that Schiaparelli also did the same, with more success.In the end, I felt I didn't really learn about Coco and her lover Baron von Dinklage, other than they were seen together a few times.

I quite enjoyed reading 'Sleeping with the Enemy'. The book has helped me to fill in some of the gaps and it's shed a lot of light on Coco Chanel's 'missing years'. I don't necessarily agree with everything the author wrote, but he did some sterling work and unearthed a plethora of information and some very interesting details.

The very secret life of Coco Chanel during the German occupation of Paris in WW2...Very exciting. The author has access to information that was never available before. Pacy and fluently written, impossible to put down!

Lots of facts and well researched. It was a good read and the story was very interesting with the background of the Second World War as the main theme throughout. Although the author gave some clues as to why Chanel was the way she was , particularly with regard to her anti semitism, I was left feeling some disgust for the kind of person she was.I did enjoy reading it and would recommend it.