2016-10-05
A group biography of the fearless young women who became secret agents during World War II.Award-winning journalists Thomas (Operation Exodus: From the Nazi Death Camps to the Promised Land: A Perilous Journey That Shaped Israel's Fate, 2010, etc.) and Lewis (A Bullet Saved My Life: The Remarkable Adventures of Bob Peters, 2006, etc.) bring their talent for telling detail and brisk pacing to an engrossing history of women who worked for the United States and Britain as spies, cryptographers, analysts, couriers, and resistance fighters during World War II. Drawing from official records, memoirs, diaries, and letters, the authors detail the recruitment, training, and daring escapades of women who infiltrated enemy lines and carried out sabotage operations, ranging from stealing documents to blowing up railroad tracks. Risking their lives repeatedly, the women proved themselves ingenious and fearless. They were also, as the authors portray them, uncommonly attractive: slim, vivacious, charming, intelligent, quick-witted, and multilingual. Among them was the irresistible Betty Pack, who took countless lovers and became known as “the spy who slept her way to obtain information”; and Evangeline Bell, “intelligent, beautiful, mysterious, and ethereal,” who had the “demanding responsibility of ensuring there were no inconsistencies in the forged documents” and articles of clothing given to French agents. Any detail could result in arrest. French clothing, for example, was sewn “with parallel threading” rather than cross-stitches, a detail for which Bell had to be alert. Spies were taught how to pick locks, reassemble documents from scraps in trash baskets, live off the land, manage a safe landing in a parachute, make a cast of a key in a bar of soap, and canvass surroundings using a shop window’s reflection. Some training centers taught forgery, microphotography, and safecracking. Not all agents were successful: some were arrested, executed, or died in concentration camps, never seeing the victory for which they worked. The authors make a strong case for the importance of these women to the course of war, offering a fresh perspective on military history. A welcome addition to WWII literature.
When Allied women went into occupied France as spies, there was little precedent. Most commonly, they were couriers or wireless operators, but their ranks also included Resistance leaders. Narrator Kate Reading tells their stories with a touch of the famous British stiff upper lip. It creates a sense of their duty and bravery. Their stories include romance, seduction, and daring sabotage. There's also a constant undercurrent of the dangers of war. The death toll was relatively heavy, and many of the women were captured by the Gestapo. Authors Gordon Thomas and Greg Lewis meticulously recount the OSS and SOE recruitment of women and their deployment. Even key spy agency secretaries and famous supporting players, including Ian Fleming and Wild Bill Donovan, are covered. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
