A Time to Risk Everything is the true story of the "Irish Winton in Skirts" - Mary Elmes, a forgotten war heroine who saved dozens of children from death. Clodagh Finn traveled Europe to piece together the story of this remarkable unknown Irish woman and met many of the children Mary Elmes saved. Bursting with courage, heroism, adventure and tragedy, this book finally captures her memories. The children called her "Miss Mary" and still remember her kindness. She provided them with food and shelter and later risked her life to help them escape the transports to Auschwitz. Mary Elmes left a brilliant academic career and went to a war zone to help children in the Spanish Civil War. In 1939 she fled from Francoist troops, but after the outbreak of the Second World War she continued to work for refugees in France. In 1942, when it became clear that the Jews were being deported to their deaths, she smuggled their children to safety in the trunk of her car. She was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned, but after her release she immediately returned to her work. After the war Mary married and settled down and never spoke of what she had done before. Her story has been forgotten. In Time to Risk Everything, her remarkable story is finally told as it deserves.