Hitler's panzer divisions shattered France in May and June of 1940. For five years France was occupied, but never fully conquered. French men, French women, and French boys continued to wage war against the Nazis.

In the small mining towns of northeastern France, boys worked in the mines from their pre-teen days, taking the same risks as did adults. When the Nazis seized the men for slave labor elsewhere, or in retaliation for the sabotage warfare of the Resistance, many boys in their lower teens joined the underground movement.

PATRIOR OF THE UNDERGROUND is a story of a group of French boys, lead by Paul LaCoque. The fathers of Paul and some friends have been seized as hostages following the sabotage of a coal train. The boys know their elders were members of the Resistance, and soon are able to contact the leaders of the movement and volunteer to help.

They come to realize that underground war is not all glamorous, that there are many routine chores and some unpleasant duties. They learn that even in heroic France, there are some traitors. Sometimes they endanger themselves by indulging in boyish pranks. But when the critical moment comes, they carry their share of the behind-the-scenes battle that contributes to the overthrow of the Germans.

From the dust jacket