Women Wartime Spies

New York: MJF Books - Fine Communications, 2011. First MJF Edition . Hard Back. Near Fine/As New. 5 1/2" x 8 1/2. Chovnick, Lisa - Design. 171 Pages Indexed. From the still-secret targeter who helped find Osama bin Laden, and the outed Valerie Plame, back in time to Aphra Behn and Mata Hari, it is clear that women are among the most fearless and effective spies. Able to blend into their background more easily than their male counterparts, women have worked as couriers, transmitters, and resistance fighters since the beginning of recorded history. Many died in the line of duty, making the ultimate sacrifice for the countries they covertly represented. Yet in most cases, we know little of the crucial roles they played, and until recently, woman spies have been stereo- typed unfairly as sexy vamps or passive dupes. But there was nothing passive about the fierce women of La Dame Blanche intelligence network, who stared down death in occupied Belgium and France to spy on the Germans in World War 1. Noor Inayat Khan, Violette Szabo, and Yvonne Cormeau were subordinate to no one in their acts of brilliant heroism in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Defying the accepted notion of their day that women were gabby gossips, these brave women sometimes took their critical secrets to the grave rather than yield them up to their nations' enemies. In this book we learn not only the identities of these undercover soldiers, but also of their breathtaking deeds and feats of selfless heroism during the times of their nations' greatest need. The author vividly describes the role of women spies during wartime and closely examines their backgrounds and their motives. In exciting and accurate detail, she relates their real-life wartime experiences, describes the training they received and their multiple, highly developed skills, and explodes the myths about women spies that continue until the present day. Contents in Eight Chapters: Women and War, Spy Paranoia and the First World War, Spying Under Occupation, Backroom Women, Special Operaetions Executive, Behind Enemy Lines, Missing, and Setting the Record Straight.