What do the most ravishingly beautiful actress of the 1930s and '40s and the inventor whose concepts were the basis of cell phone and Bluetooth technology have in common? They are both Hedy Lamarr, the glamour icon whose ravishing visage was the inspiration for Snow White and Cat Woman and a technological trailblazer who perfected a radio system to throw Nazi torpedoes off course during WWII.

While headed to Tangier to purchase a microfilm containing important war secrets, foreign spy Eric Augustine is captured by the authorities. Burlesque comedian Peanuts White, a dead ringer for Augustine, is recruited by the government to take over Augustine's mission. White is briefed, dressed to look exactly like Augustine, and thrust into the world of espionage and international intrigue. In Tangiers problems arise when he meets Lily, Augustine's...

Hedy Kiesler is lucky. Her beauty leads to a starring role in a controversial film and marriage to a powerful Austrian arms dealer, allowing her to evade Nazi persecution despite her Jewish heritage. But Hedy is also intelligent. At lavish Vienna dinner parties, she overhears the Third Reich's plans. One night in 1937, desperate to escape her controlling husband and the rise of the Nazis, she disguises herself and flees her husband's castle. She lands...

Providing probing and detailed coverage of Hedy Lamarr's five marriages, children, various lawsuits, radio roles and shoplifting headlines, Shearer has combined extensive archival research with insightful interview quotes. The result is a fascinating biography that recreates Hollywood's Golden Age of Glamour