A classic war history available for the first time in thirty years.Andrée de Jongh was a young artist in Brussels when German troops marched in. She set up the Comet Line to smuggle trapped Allied soldiers and airmen through France and across the Pyrenees into Spain, saving the lives of more...  more

A classic war history available for the first time in thirty years.Andrée de Jongh was a young artist in Brussels when German troops marched in. She set up the Comet Line to smuggle trapped Allied soldiers and airmen through France and across the Pyrenees into Spain, saving the lives of more than eight hundred Allied servicemen.Such heroism came at an enormous cost. Hundreds of Comet Line members died in the Nazi concentration camps. The story of the Little Cyclone is one of tragedy and triumph, a remarkably human and inspiring story that rivals the most dramatic of thrillers.

The women of Bletchley Park have a unique story to tell. Although critical to the success of the project to break the German and Japanese codes in World War II, their contribution has been consistently overlooked and undervalued. Through unprecedented access to surviving veterans, this book...  more

The women of Bletchley Park have a unique story to tell. Although critical to the success of the project to break the German and Japanese codes in World War II, their contribution has been consistently overlooked and undervalued. Through unprecedented access to surviving veterans, this book reveals how life at "The Park" and its outstations was far removed from the glamorous existence usually portrayed. The women speak vividly of their lives in the 1930s, why they were selected to work in Britain's most secret organization, and the challenges of re-entry into civilian life. Forbidden to talk about their vital war work, they often found it hard to adjust to the expectations of both their immediate families and society as a whole. By spending time with these fascinating female secret-keepers, who are still alive today, Tessa Dunlop captures their extraordinary journeys into an adult world of war, secrecy, love, and loss. Through the voices of the women themselves, this is a portrait of life at Bletchley Park beyond the celebrated code-breakers. The Bletchley Girls is the story of the women behind Britain's ability to consistently outsmart the enemy.

The incredible account of how one heroic woman defied convention in 19th-century America to live, work, and defend her country at a time of war, when women were barely allowed out of the house.

Clandestine missions. Clever, devious, daring. Passionately committed to a cause. During America's most divisive war, both the Union and Confederacy took advantage of brave and courageous women willing to adventurously support their causes. These female spies of the Civil War participated in the...  more

Clandestine missions. Clever, devious, daring. Passionately committed to a cause. During America's most divisive war, both the Union and Confederacy took advantage of brave and courageous women willing to adventurously support their causes. These female spies of the Civil War participated in the world's second-oldest profession-spying-a profession perilous in the extreme. The tales of female spies are filled with suspense, bravery, treachery, and trickery. They took enormous risks and achieved remarkable results-often in ways men could not do. As stated on the grave marker of Union spy Elizabeth Van Lew: "She risked everything that is dear to man-friends, fortune, comfort, health, life itself." Told with personality and pizzazz, author H. Donald Winkler uses primary Civil War sources such as memoirs, journals, letters, and newspaper articles, plus the latest in scholarly research, to make these incredible stories come alive.

Soon to be a PBS Masterpiece series starring Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Cranford)   Away from the frontlines of World War II, in towns and villages across Great Britain, ordinary women were playing a vital role in their country?s war effort. As members of the Women?s...  more

Soon to be a PBS Masterpiece series starring Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Cranford)   Away from the frontlines of World War II, in towns and villages across Great Britain, ordinary women were playing a vital role in their country?s war effort. As members of the Women?s Institute, an organization with a presence in a third of Britain?s villages, they ran canteens and knitted garments for troops, collected tons of rosehips and other herbs to replace medicines that couldn?t be imported, and advised the government on issues ranging from evacuee housing to children?s health to postwar reconstruction. But they are best known for making jam: from produce they grew on every available scrap of land, they produced twelve million pounds of jam and preserves to feed a hungry nation.   Home Fires, Julie Summers?s fascinating social history of the Women?s Institute during the war (when its members included the future Queen Elizabeth II along with her mother and grandmother), provides the remarkable and inspiring true story behind the upcoming PBS Masterpiece series that will be sure to delight fans of Call the Midwife and Foyle?s War. Through archival material and interviews with current and former Women?s Institute members, Home Fires gives us an intimate look at life on the home front during World War II.

A look at the lives of the real nurses depicted in the PBS show Mercy Street HEROINES OF MERCY STREET tells the true stories of the nurses at Mansion House, the Alexandria, Virginia, mansion turned war-time hospital and setting for the new PBS drama Mercy Street. Among the Union soldiers,...  more

A look at the lives of the real nurses depicted in the PBS show Mercy Street HEROINES OF MERCY STREET tells the true stories of the nurses at Mansion House, the Alexandria, Virginia, mansion turned war-time hospital and setting for the new PBS drama Mercy Street. Among the Union soldiers, doctors, wounded men from both sides, freed slaves, politicians, speculators, and spies who passed through the hospital in the crossroads of the Civil War, were nurses who gave their time freely and willingly to save lives and aid the wounded. These women saw casualties on a scale Americans had never seen before, and medicine was at a turning point. HEROINES OF MERCY STREET follows the lives of women like Dorothea Dix, Mary Phinney, Anne Reading, and more before, during, and after their epic struggle in Alexandria and reveals their personal contributions to this astounding period in the advancement of medicine.

With shocking and vivid detail, the journal of a woman living through the Russian occupation of Berlin in 1945 tells of the shameful indignities to which women in a conquered city are always subject and describes the common experience of millions.

In these pages, you'll find the experiences of nurses who dodged rocket attacks as they made their rounds; of Red Cross workers whose helicopters were fired upon as they flew into the jungles; of WACs who found their names on the Viet Cong's "elimination lists." You will find...  more

In these pages, you'll find the experiences of nurses who dodged rocket attacks as they made their rounds; of Red Cross workers whose helicopters were fired upon as they flew into the jungles; of WACs who found their names on the Viet Cong's "elimination lists." You will find stories of danger, excitement, fear, and, in many cases, psychic wounds that will never heal. Foreword by Martha Raye

Custer, Pershing, Patton, MacArthur - most individuals are familiar with these famous American generals. However, almost no one is familiar with their wives - "Libbie" Custer, Frances Pershing, Beatrice Patton, Jean MacArthur. These are only four of the fascinating women who followed their...  more

Custer, Pershing, Patton, MacArthur - most individuals are familiar with these famous American generals. However, almost no one is familiar with their wives - "Libbie" Custer, Frances Pershing, Beatrice Patton, Jean MacArthur. These are only four of the fascinating women who followed their husbands throughout their careers and helped the generals attain their high rank. All of the wives had to mold their lives to the personalities of ambitious men seeking the most exalted position offered in the U.S. military. The Generals' Wives provides brief biographies of fifteen of these women, from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam.

THE GIRLS OF ATOMIC CITY-  AT THE HEIGHT OF WORLD WAR II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than New York City. But to most of the world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians -many of them young women from small towns across the South-...  more

THE GIRLS OF ATOMIC CITY-  AT THE HEIGHT OF WORLD WAR II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than New York City. But to most of the world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians -many of them young women from small towns across the South- were recruited to this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work.  Kept very much in the dark, few would ever guess the true nature of the tasks they performed each day in the hulking factories in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains.  That is, until the end of the war - when Oak Ridge's secret was revealed. Drawing on the voices of the women who lived it -women who are now in their eighties and nineties- The Girls of Atomic City rescues a remarkable, forgotten chapter of American history from obscurity.  Denise Kiernan captures the spirit of the times through these women: their pluck, their desire to contribute, and their enduring courage. Combining the grand-scale human drama of The Worst Hard Time with the intimate biography and often troubling science of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Girls of Atomic City is a lasting and important addition to our country's history.

"THE SECRET RESCUE combines all of the elements that draw us to WWII stories: the daring of The Guns of Navarone, the suspense of The Great Escape, and the bravery reminiscent of Ill Met by Moonlight. It's the inclusion of so many women, though, that makes this story unique.'' -- Daily Beast ...  more

"THE SECRET RESCUE combines all of the elements that draw us to WWII stories: the daring of The Guns of Navarone, the suspense of The Great Escape, and the bravery reminiscent of Ill Met by Moonlight. It's the inclusion of so many women, though, that makes this story unique.'' -- Daily Beast When 26 Army Air Force flight nurses and medics boarded a military transport plane in November 1943 on a mission to evacuate wounded and sick troops, they didn't anticipate a crash landing in Nazi territory. Emerging from their battered aircraft, the Americans found themselves in Albania, a country rife with chaos and danger. With hunger and sickness as their constant companions, they hid at night with courageous villagers who shared what little food they had and risked death at Nazi hands to help them. This mesmerizing account of the courage and bravery of ordinary people reveals for the first time an astonishing true story of heroic struggle and endurance.

Women of Valor tells the extraordinary story of the Rochambelles, the only women's unit to serve on the front lines of World War II. Some of them had been proper young ladies stranded abroad by the German invasion of France; others had scaled the Pyrénées by night to escape the Nazi occupation....  more

Women of Valor tells the extraordinary story of the Rochambelles, the only women's unit to serve on the front lines of World War II. Some of them had been proper young ladies stranded abroad by the German invasion of France; others had scaled the Pyrénées by night to escape the Nazi occupation. All of them had a deep desire to help liberate their nation, and if they couldn’t fight, driving an ambulance would have to do. Organized in New York by a wealthy American widow determined to create an all-female ambulance corps, they served with unflinching courage--saving soldiers from burning camps, dodging bombs, bullets, and mines, and even talking their way out of German hands. With colorful, brave characters and fierce battle scenes, Women of Valor is both a gripping and delightful read.

The Mongol queens of the thirteenth century ruled the largest empire the world has ever known. Yet sometime near the end of the century, censors cut a section from The Secret History of the Mongols, leaving a single tantalizing quote from Genghis Khan: “Let us reward our female...  more

The Mongol queens of the thirteenth century ruled the largest empire the world has ever known. Yet sometime near the end of the century, censors cut a section from The Secret History of the Mongols, leaving a single tantalizing quote from Genghis Khan: “Let us reward our female offspring.” Only this hint of a father’s legacy for his daughters remained of a much larger story. The queens of the Silk Route turned their father’s conquests into the world’s first truly international empire, fostering trade, education, and religion throughout their territories and creating an economic system that stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean. Outlandish stories of these powerful queens trickled out of the Empire, shocking the citizens of Europe and and the Islamic world. After Genghis Khan’s death in 1227, conflicts erupted between his daughters and his daughters-in-law; what began as a war between powerful women soon became a war against women in power as brother turned against sister, son against mother. At the end of this epic struggle, the dynasty of the Mongol queens had seemingly been extinguished forever, as even their names were erased from the historical record.. One of the most unusual and important warrior queens of history arose to avenge the wrongs, rescue the tattered shreds of the Mongol Empire, and restore order to a shattered world. Putting on her quiver and picking up her bow, Queen Mandhuhai led her soldiers through victory after victory. In her thirties she married a seventeen-year-old prince, and she bore eight children in the midst of a career spent fighting the Ming Dynasty of China on one side and a series of Muslim warlords on the other. Her unprecedented success on the battlefield provoked the Chinese into the most frantic and expensive phase of wall building in history. Charging into battle even while pregnant, she fought to reassemble the Mongol Nation of Genghis Khan and to preserve it for her own children to rule in peace. At the conclusion of his magnificently researched and ground-breaking narrative, Weatherford notes that, despite their mystery and the efforts to erase them from our collective memory, the deeds of these Mongol queens inspired great artists from Chaucer and Milton to Goethe and Puccini, and so their stories live on today. With The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, Jack Weatherford restores the queens’ missing chapter to the annals of history. 

They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera, a midwife, a dental surgeon. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newspapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The...  more

They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera, a midwife, a dental surgeon. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newspapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The youngest was a schoolgirl of fifteen who scrawled "V" for victory on the walls of her lycee; the eldest, a farmer's wife in her sixties who harbored escaped Allied airmen. Strangers to each other, hailing from villages and cities from across France, these brave women were united in hatred and defiance of their Nazi occupiers. Eventually, the Gestapo hunted down 230 of these women and imprisoned them in a fort outside Paris. Separated from home and loved ones, these disparate individuals turned to one another, their common experience conquering divisions of age, education, profession, and class, as they found solace and strength in their deep affection and camaraderie. In January 1943, they were sent to their final destination: Auschwitz. Only forty-nine would return to France. A Train in Winter draws on interviews with these women and their families; German, French, and Polish archives; and documents held by World War II resistance organizations to uncover a dark chapter of history that offers an inspiring portrait of ordinary people, of bravery and survival -- and of the remarkable, enduring power of female friendship.

Great American men have always understood the importance of women. John Adams described them as "the most infallible barometer... of morality and virtue in a nation." And Daniel Webster said the "promulgation of sound morals" was a woman's contribution to "the...  more

Great American men have always understood the importance of women. John Adams described them as "the most infallible barometer... of morality and virtue in a nation." And Daniel Webster said the "promulgation of sound morals" was a woman's contribution to "the preservation of a free government." Wives of the Signers describes those women who, alongside their husbands, experienced the trials and triumphs of the struggle for independence and the challenge of building a new nation. Who were they? Abigail Smith Adams, wife of one president, mother of another, and perhaps the most influential woman of her day; Annis Boudinot Stockton, wife of Richard Stockton, whose home was looted and burned during the savageries of war; Deborah Scudder Hart, wife of John Hart, who suffered for months as her patriotic husband was hounded and hunted as a criminal; and many more. Wives of the Signers highlights these great American women. Though they did not confront the hail of bullets or cannon, though they did not participate in conventions or congresses, they were at the heart of every soul-stirring historic event. Wives of the Signers is a book about the heart of America.

"They flirted with men, and with death." In The Women Who Lived for Danger, acclaimed historian Marcus Binney recounts the story of ten remarkable women -- some famous, some virtually unknown -- recruited to work behind enemy lines as secret agents during WWII. Part of Winston Churchill's...  more

"They flirted with men, and with death." In The Women Who Lived for Danger, acclaimed historian Marcus Binney recounts the story of ten remarkable women -- some famous, some virtually unknown -- recruited to work behind enemy lines as secret agents during WWII. Part of Winston Churchill's Special Operations Executive, formed in 1940 to "set Europe ablaze," the women of the SOE were trained to handle guns and explosives, work undercover, endure interrogation by the Gestapo, and use complex codes. Once in enemy territory, theirs was the most dangerous war of all, leading an apparently normal civilian life but in constant danger of arrest and execution. Passing themselves off as country wenches by afternoon and chic Parisiennes by night, these women put service to Britain and the Allied forces above all concerns for personal safety -- they organized dropping grounds for arms and explosives destined for the Resistance, helped operate escape lines for airmen who had been shot down over Europe, and provided Allied Command with vital intelligence. The exploits of those chronicled in The Women Who Lived for Danger form a new chapter of heroism in the history of warfare matched only by their legacy of daring, determination, resourcefulness, and ability to stay cool in the face of extreme danger.

On May 13, 1945, twenty-four American servicemen and WACs boarded a transport plane for a sightseeing trip over “Shangri-La,” a beautiful and mysterious valley deep within the jungle-covered mountains of Dutch New Guinea. Unlike the peaceful Tibetan monks of James Hilton’s...  more

On May 13, 1945, twenty-four American servicemen and WACs boarded a transport plane for a sightseeing trip over “Shangri-La,” a beautiful and mysterious valley deep within the jungle-covered mountains of Dutch New Guinea. Unlike the peaceful Tibetan monks of James Hilton’s bestselling novel Lost Horizon, this Shangri-La was home to spear-carrying tribesmen, warriors rumored to be cannibals. But the pleasure tour became an unforgettable battle for survival when the plane crashed. Miraculously, three passengers pulled through. Margaret Hastings, barefoot and burned, had no choice but to wear her dead best friend’s shoes. John McCollom, grieving the death of his twin brother also aboard the plane, masked his grief with stoicism. Kenneth Decker, too, was severely burned and suffered a gaping head wound. Emotionally devastated, badly injured, and vulnerable to the hidden dangers of the jungle, the trio faced certain death unless they left the crash site. Caught between man-eating headhunters and enemy Japanese, the wounded passengers endured a harrowing hike down the mountainside—a journey into the unknown that would lead them straight into a primitive tribe of superstitious natives who had never before seen a white man—or woman. 

A real-life Suite Francaise, this riveting diary by a key female member of the French Resistance in WWII is translated into English for the first time.  Agnes Humbert was an art historian in Paris during the German occupation in 1940. Though she might well have weathered the oppressive...  more

A real-life Suite Francaise, this riveting diary by a key female member of the French Resistance in WWII is translated into English for the first time.  Agnes Humbert was an art historian in Paris during the German occupation in 1940. Though she might well have weathered the oppressive regime, Humbert was stirred to action by the atrocities she witnessed. In an act of astonishing bravery, she joined forces with several colleagues to form an organized resistance -- very likely the first such group to fight back against the occupation. (In fact, their newsletter, Resistance, gave the French Resistance its name.) In the throes of their struggle for freedom, the members of Humbert's group were betrayed to the Gestapo; Humbert herself was imprisoned. In immediate, electrifying detail, Humbert describes her time in prison, her deportation to Germany, where for more than two years she endured a string of brutal labor camps, and the horror of discovering seven of her friends were executed by a firing squad. But through the direst of conditions, and ill health in the labor camps, Humbert retains hope for herself, for her friends, and for humanity. Originally published in France in 1946, the book was soon forgotten and is now translated into English for the first time. Resistance is more than a firsthand account of wartime France; it is the work of a brave, witty, and forceful woman, a true believer who refused to go quietly.

Reprint: Originally published by Greenwood Press, 1975. Wiley uses the published and unpublished writings of Southern women to offer the reader insights into their personalities and attitudes.

In this mesmerizing story, finalist for the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize, Chanrithy Him vividly recounts her trek through the hell of the "killing fields." She gives us a child's-eye view of a Cambodia where rudimentary labor camps for both adults and children are the norm and modern...  more

In this mesmerizing story, finalist for the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize, Chanrithy Him vividly recounts her trek through the hell of the "killing fields." She gives us a child's-eye view of a Cambodia where rudimentary labor camps for both adults and children are the norm and modern technology no longer exists. Death becomes a companion in the camps, along with illness. Yet through the terror, the members of Chanrithy's family remain loyal to one another, and she and her siblings who survive will find redeemed lives in America. 15 b/w photographs.

In Iraq, the front line is everywhere . . . and everywhere in Iraq, women in the U.S. military fight. More than 155,000 of them have served in Iraq since 2003--4 times the number of women sent to Desert Storm in 1991--and more than 430 have been wounded and over 70 killed, almost twice the...  more

In Iraq, the front line is everywhere . . . and everywhere in Iraq, women in the U.S. military fight. More than 155,000 of them have served in Iraq since 2003--4 times the number of women sent to Desert Storm in 1991--and more than 430 have been wounded and over 70 killed, almost twice the number of U.S. military women killed in action in Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm combined.But should women be in combat? Do they have what it takes to be warriors? Compelling questions once . . . but empty questions now, because more than ever, American women are in combat, and they are warriors. The real question is: What is their experience of war? We haven t heard their stories--until now.Band of Sisters presents 12 of these amazing and often heart-wrenching stories of American women in the frontlines:* Accounts from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines* America s first female pilot to be shot down and survive* The U.S. military s first black female pilot in combat* A 21-year-old turret gunner defending a convoy* Two military policewomen in a firefight* A nurse struggling to save lives, including her own

In World War II, 59,000 women voluntarily risked their lives for their country as U.S. Army nurses. When the war began, some of them had so little idea of what to expect that they packed party dresses; but the reality of service quickly caught up with them, whether they waded through the water...  more

In World War II, 59,000 women voluntarily risked their lives for their country as U.S. Army nurses. When the war began, some of them had so little idea of what to expect that they packed party dresses; but the reality of service quickly caught up with them, whether they waded through the water in the historic landings on North African and Normandy beaches, or worked around the clock in hospital tents on the Italian front as bombs fell all around them. For more than half a century these women’s experiences remained untold, almost without reference in books, historical societies, or military archives. After years of reasearch and hundreds of hours of interviews, Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee have created a dramatic narrative that at last brings to light the critical role that women played throughout the war. From the North African and Italian Campaigns to the Liberation of France and the Conquest of Germany, U.S. Army nurses rose to the demands of war on the frontlines with grit, humor, and great heroism. A long overdue work of history, And If I Perish is also a powerful tribute to these women and their inspiring legacy.

While Rosie the Riveter and millions of American women fought World War II on the home front, other women witnessed the war firsthand. Many of them were overtaken by Japan's military offensive in the South Pacific and subsequently held captive. Theresa Kaminski chronicles their harrowing...  more

While Rosie the Riveter and millions of American women fought World War II on the home front, other women witnessed the war firsthand. Many of them were overtaken by Japan's military offensive in the South Pacific and subsequently held captive. Theresa Kaminski chronicles their harrowing experiences in this moving testament of women in wartime. Although most of us are familiar with accounts of POWs, few realize that the Japanese imprisoned thousands of American civilian women in the Philippines during World War II. They were businessmen's wives and career girls, missionaries and teachers, nurses and mothers-and some were even spies. Many had grown accustomed to the good life in a colonial society, but after the Japanese invaded they had to learn to fend for themselves. Prisoners in Paradise is the most complete look at the experiences of these heroic women. Theresa Kaminski takes readers inside the internment camps to show how these women coped and how the experience changed them. Some took on leadership roles for the first time in their lives, while many found themselves doing work they had previously left to servants. They learned to stretch both the boundaries of acceptable behavior for women and the norms of motherhood as they struggled to meet the challenge of captivity. They fought to keep their families together, adjusting to changes in work habits and private lives under the watchful eye of their Japanese captors. They also kept up their morale by diverting themselves with fashion--however impromptu it might have been. While most civilian women were interned, others fled into the hills or adopted new identities to avoid captivity, relying on neighbors and former servants for survival. Kaminski shares their stories as well, such as that of an intelligence agent who escaped the Japanese to fight with--and serve as mother to--a band of Filipino guerrillas, and a spy known as "High Pockets" who got her nickname by smuggling documents in her brassiere. Prisoners in Paradise is the product of exceptionally wide-ranging research, drawing on interviews, letters, and diaries of internees. It shows how women under duress negotiated issues of gender and national identity in their struggle to survive, bolstered by their belief in what it meant to be an American woman. By sharing these little-known stories of perseverance and survival, Kaminski draws new profiles of courage that can inspire us half a century later.

In 1964, as the first B-52s took flight in what would become America's longest combat mission, an old Air Force base on the plains of Kansas became Schilling Manor -- the only base ever to be set aside for the wives and children of soldiers assigned to Vietnam. Author Donna Moreau was the...  more

In 1964, as the first B-52s took flight in what would become America's longest combat mission, an old Air Force base on the plains of Kansas became Schilling Manor -- the only base ever to be set aside for the wives and children of soldiers assigned to Vietnam. Author Donna Moreau was the daughter of one such waiting wife, and here she writes of growing up at a time when The Flintstones were interrupted with news of firefights, fraggings, and protests, when the evening news announced death tolls along with the weather forecasts. The women and children of Schilling Manor fought on the emotional front of the war. It was not a front composed of battle plans and bullets. Their enemies were fear, loneliness, lack of information, and the slow tick of time.Waiting Wives: The Story of Schilling Manor, Home Front to the Vietnam War tells the story of the last generation of hat-and-glove military wives called upon by their country to pack without question, to follow without comment, and to wait quietly with a smile. A heartfelt book that focuses on this other, hidden side of war, Waiting Wives is a narrative investigation of an extraordinary group of women. A compelling memoir and domestic drama, Waiting Wives is also the story of a country in the midst of change, of a country at war with a war.

"I don't know how long before i shall have to go into the field of battle. For my part i don't care. I don't feel afraid to go. I don't believe there are any Rebel's bullet made for me yet." --Pvt. Lyons Wakeman Similar sentiments were expressed by tens of thousands of Civil War soldiers in...  more

"I don't know how long before i shall have to go into the field of battle. For my part i don't care. I don't feel afraid to go. I don't believe there are any Rebel's bullet made for me yet." --Pvt. Lyons Wakeman Similar sentiments were expressed by tens of thousands of Civil War soldiers in their diaries and in their letters to loved ones at home. What transforms the letters of Pvt. Lyons Wakeman from merely interesting reading into a unique and fascinating addition to Civil War literature is who wrote them--for Private Wakeman was not what "he" seemed to be. The five-foot tall soldier's true identity was that of a simple young farm girl from central New York state named Sarah Rosetta Wakeman. Her letters, the only such correspondence known to exist, provide a rare glimpse of what life was like for a woman fighting as a common soldier in the Civil War under the guise of a man. Written shortly after she left home to pursue her fortune in 1862, Rosetta's letters over the next two years tell of army life in the defences of Washington, D.C. and on the march and in battle during the 1864 Louisiana Red River Campaign. She wrote frequently to her family in Afton, NY, and her letters contain feelings and observations like those expressed by the majority of her fellow soldiers. We read of her determination to perform honorably the duty required of a soldier, the trials of hard marching and combat, her pride in being able to "drill just as well as any man" in her regiment, and her eventual fatalistic attitude toward military service, and her frequent expressions of faith in God and the afterlife. Although Rosetta did not survive the war, her letters remain as an singular record of female military life in the ranks, a phenomenon largely ignored by historians and researchers. Private Wakeman was not alone in embarking on her strange adventure. Hundreds of women, from both the North and South, disguised themselves as men and enlisted in the armies of our nation's bloodiest war. The experiences of these women during the Civil War are just beginning to be recognized as elemental to understanding the life of this country during those turbulent times. Little is known about these women precisely because they enlisted and served in constant secrecy, fearful of revealing their true identities. This unique collection of letters offers a firsthand look at the personality and character of a woman who defied convention to take a man's place in the Union army.

“Albert Cashier” served three years in the Union Army and passed successfully as a man until 1911 when the aging veteran was revealed to be a woman named Jennie Hodgers. Frances Clayton kept fighting even after her husband was gunned down in front of her at the Battle of...  more

“Albert Cashier” served three years in the Union Army and passed successfully as a man until 1911 when the aging veteran was revealed to be a woman named Jennie Hodgers. Frances Clayton kept fighting even after her husband was gunned down in front of her at the Battle of Murfreesboro. And more than one soldier astonished “his” comrades-in-arms by giving birth in camp.This lively and authoritative book opens a hitherto neglected chapter of Civil War history, telling the stories of hundreds of women who adopted male disguise and fought as soldiers. It explores their reasons for enlisting; their experiences in combat, and the way they were seen by their fellow soldiers and the American public. Impeccably researched and narrated with verve and wit, They Fought Like Demons is a major addition to our understanding of the Civil War era.

Even as occupying forces moved into her farmhouse in Fairfax, Virginia, Anne Frobel recorded her experience of war. An inspiring account of honor and nobility during even the darkest days, her diary covers the conflict along the Potomac and its aftermath to 1879.

Long-forgotten, dusty cardboard boxes reveal an amazing legacy: letters from World War II that tell stories of courage and fear, survival and loss. The letters, mainly written by the author's mother Didi and grandmother-- separated by war -- tell of the war years in the East Indies and in...  more

Long-forgotten, dusty cardboard boxes reveal an amazing legacy: letters from World War II that tell stories of courage and fear, survival and loss. The letters, mainly written by the author's mother Didi and grandmother-- separated by war -- tell of the war years in the East Indies and in the Netherlands, time in an interment camp during the Japanese occupation in Java and life in Holland during the German occupation. Although the letters tell of loss, such as the death of the author's father (a Japanese prisoner of war) who dies in a bombing raid by our Allies in 1944, the memoir includes missives of hope, written as the author's mother waits for her new love Jan, a man who had been her best friend before the war and who she will soon marry, as well as stories of the lighter moments of living in camp. The beautifully descriptive narrative by author Sia Arnason and letter excerpts chronicle an amazing tale of her newly married parents' life in the Dutch colonies, the rigors of preparing for a worldwide war, a harrowing attempt to escape the enemy by venturing into the jungle, and living in POW and interment camps. When the war ends, the struggle to survive continues as Indonesia faces its own violent struggles to become an independent nation. Sia's words create a moving and unforgettable account of the harsh realities of war as seen through the eyes of those who soldiered through it. Sia Arnason arrived in the United States as a twenty-two year old interested in yet more challenges in a new country. She was a guide in the United Nations for a few years and then earned a Masters in Social Work. She was employed for more than 25 years at the Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College in New York City. Sia's mother, Didi, remained in Holland and lived to be 95. Sia Arnason resides near the Berkshire Mountains with her husband Jon and five cats.

"Our women are serving actively in many ways in this war, and they are doing a grand job on both the fighting front and the home front." -- Eleanor Roosevelt, 1944 Our Mothers' War is a stunning and unprecedented portrait of women during World War II, a war that forever transformed the way...  more

"Our women are serving actively in many ways in this war, and they are doing a grand job on both the fighting front and the home front." -- Eleanor Roosevelt, 1944 Our Mothers' War is a stunning and unprecedented portrait of women during World War II, a war that forever transformed the way women participate in American society. Never before has the vast range of American women's experience during this pivotal era been brought together in one book. Now, Our Mothers' War re-creates what American women from all walks of life were doing and thinking, on the home front and abroad. Like all great histories, Our Mothers' War began with an illuminating discovery. After finding a journal and letters her mother had written while serving with the Red Cross in the Pacific, journalist Emily Yellin started unearthing what her mother and other women of her mother's generation went through during a time when their country asked them to step into roles they had never been invited, or allowed, to fill before. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including personal interviews and previously unpublished letters and diaries, Yellin shows what went on in the hearts and minds of the real women behind the female images of World War II -- women working in war plants; mothers and wives sending their husbands and sons off to war and sometimes death; women joining the military for the first time in American history; nurses operating in battle zones in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific; and housewives coping with rationing. Yellin also delves into lesser-known stories, including: tales of female spies, pilots, movie stars, baseball players, politicians, prostitutes, journalists, and even fictional characters; firsthand accounts from the wives of the scientists who created the atomic bomb at Los Alamos, African-American women who faced Jim Crow segregation laws at home even as their men were fighting enemy bigotry and injustice abroad, and Japanese-American women locked up as prisoners in their own country. Yellin explains how Wonder Woman was created in 1941 to fight the Nazi menace and became the first female comic book superhero, as well as how Marilyn Monroe was discovered in 1944 while working with her mother-in-law packing parachutes at a war plant in Burbank, California. Our Mothers' War gives center stage to those who might be called "the other American soldiers."

Fascinating true stories of some of the most interesting and influential personalities of the Civil War. Their heroic deeds and selfless acts ranged from caring for the wounded to fighting on the battlefields. Included are Harriet Tubman, Belle Boyd, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, and many others.

Friday, December 19, 1777, dawned cold and windy. Fourteen thousand Continental Army soldiers tramped from dawn to dusk along the rutted Pennsylvania roads from Gulph Mills to Valley Forge, the site of their winter encampment. After the soldiers came the army’s wagons, then hundreds of...  more

Friday, December 19, 1777, dawned cold and windy. Fourteen thousand Continental Army soldiers tramped from dawn to dusk along the rutted Pennsylvania roads from Gulph Mills to Valley Forge, the site of their winter encampment. After the soldiers came the army’s wagons, then hundreds of camp women. Following the Drum: Women at the Valley Forge Encampment tells the story of the forgotten women who spent the winter of 1777–78 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge. While the camp women of Washington’s army were poor, dirty creatures who clung to the very edge of survival, many worked as the army’s washerwomen, nurses, cooks, or seamstresses. Other women at camp were of higher status: they traveled with Washington’s entourage when the army headquarters shifted from place to place and served the general as valued cooks, laundresses, or housekeepers. There were also ladies at camp, part of the “numerous and splendid” audience who enjoyed the camp theater and had their portraits painted by Charles Willson Peale. No evidence suggests that Martha Washington visited informally among the troops at any camp, including Valley Forge.In Following the Drum, readers will learn of the 1777–78 encampment’s devastating effect on the area’s farm families, meet the women and ladies who accompanied and aided the soldiers, and discover a Valley Forge that many never knew existed.

Now in paperback, Women Warriors is the most comprehensive work available about women's martial heritage. David Jones, an anthropologist, tells the history of women in battle from Cleopatra and Joan of Arc to Thusnelda, the Teutonic warrior, and the 20th century's Ming Khai. He challenges the...  more

Now in paperback, Women Warriors is the most comprehensive work available about women's martial heritage. David Jones, an anthropologist, tells the history of women in battle from Cleopatra and Joan of Arc to Thusnelda, the Teutonic warrior, and the 20th century's Ming Khai. He challenges the notion that only men are capable of fighting or leading in battle. From sword-wieldin soldiers to modern-day helicopter pilots, women around the world who have fought, led and ruled come to life in Women Warriors.

They hid food and heirlooms in wells and swamps as Yankees plundered. Vivid eyewitness accounts of southern women during the Civil War. Accounts of slave women included. Genteel wives and southern aristocracy were catapulted out of cozy worlds of privilege and prevailed. Frugal Civil War...  more

They hid food and heirlooms in wells and swamps as Yankees plundered. Vivid eyewitness accounts of southern women during the Civil War. Accounts of slave women included. Genteel wives and southern aristocracy were catapulted out of cozy worlds of privilege and prevailed. Frugal Civil War recipes: oatmeal pie, cabbage stew, "idiot's delight" cake, and Hoppin John.

"Code Girls reveals a hidden army of female cryptographers, whose work played a crucial role in ending World War II.... Mundy has rescued a piece of forgotten history, and given these American heroes the recognition they deserve."---Nathalia Holt, bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls ...  more

"Code Girls reveals a hidden army of female cryptographers, whose work played a crucial role in ending World War II.... Mundy has rescued a piece of forgotten history, and given these American heroes the recognition they deserve."---Nathalia Holt, bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.

They were the unsung heroines of World War II; the wives, mums, and teenage girls, all "doing their bit" for the war effort, clocking in daily to work in vast munitions factories, helping make the explosives, bullets, and war machines that would ensure victory for Britain. It was dangerous,...  more

They were the unsung heroines of World War II; the wives, mums, and teenage girls, all "doing their bit" for the war effort, clocking in daily to work in vast munitions factories, helping make the explosives, bullets, and war machines that would ensure victory for Britain. It was dangerous, dirty, and exhausting work. They worked round the clock, often exposed to toxic lethal chemicals. A factory accident could mean blindness, loss of limbs?or worse. Many went home with acid burns, yellow skin, or discolored hair. Others were forced to leave their loved one and move to live with total strangers in unfamiliar surroundings. Frequently, their male bosses were coarse and unsympathetic. Yet this hidden army of nearly two million women toiled on regardless through the worst years of the war, cheerfully ignoring the dangers and the exhaustion, as bombing, rationing, and the heartbreak of loss or separation took their toll on everyone in the country. Only now, all these years later, have they chosen to tell their remarkable stories. Here, in their own words, are the vivid wartime memories of the "secret army" of female munitions workers, whose resilience and sheer grit in the face of danger has only now started to emerge. These are the intimate and personal stories of an unforgettable group of women, whose hard work and quiet courage made a significant contribution to Britain's war effort. They didn't fire the bullets, but they filled them up with explosives. And in doing so, they helped Britain with the war.

During the American Civil War, James Madison Bowler and Elizabeth Caleff Bowler courted, married, became parents, and bought a farm. They attended dances, talked politics, and confided their deepest fears. Because of the war, however, they experienced all of these events separately, sharing them...  more

During the American Civil War, James Madison Bowler and Elizabeth Caleff Bowler courted, married, became parents, and bought a farm. They attended dances, talked politics, and confided their deepest fears. Because of the war, however, they experienced all of these events separately, sharing them through hundreds of letters from 1861 to 1865 while Madison served in the Third Minnesota Volunteer Regiment.  The couple?s separation?which led Madison to battle in the Tennessee Surrender and the Dakota War of 1862?challenged their commitment to the war and to each other. These poignant letters provided them a space to voice their fear for and frustration with each other, and they now provide readers with a window into one couple?s Civil War.

In January 1940, navy nurse Dorothy Still eagerly anticipated her new assignment at a military hospital in the Philippines. Her first year abroad was an adventure. She dated sailors, attended dances and watched the sparkling evening lights from her balcony. But as 1941 progressed, signs of war...  more

In January 1940, navy nurse Dorothy Still eagerly anticipated her new assignment at a military hospital in the Philippines. Her first year abroad was an adventure. She dated sailors, attended dances and watched the sparkling evening lights from her balcony. But as 1941 progressed, signs of war became imminent. Military wives and children were shipped home to the states, and the sailors increased their daily drills. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, Dorothy and the other nurses braced for a direct assault. When the all-clear sounded, they raced across the yard to the hospital and prepared for the wounded to arrive. In that frantic dash, Dorothy transformed from a navy nurse to a war nurse. Along with the other women on the nursing staff, she provided compassionate, tireless, critical care. When the Philippines fell to Japan in early January 1942, Dorothy was held captive in a hospital and then transferred to a university along with thousands of civilian prisoners. Cramped conditions, disease and poor nutrition meant the navy nurses and their army counterparts were overwhelmed caring for the camp. They endured disease, starvation, severe overcrowding, and abuse from guards, but also experienced friendship, hope, and some, including Dorothy, even found love.  

The Women's Land Army was actually founded in 1917, but it was during the Second World War that it attracted the kind of attention which assured its place in the annals of the British war effort. The Services' demands on manpower created a gap which the alternative labour of female workers had...  more

The Women's Land Army was actually founded in 1917, but it was during the Second World War that it attracted the kind of attention which assured its place in the annals of the British war effort. The Services' demands on manpower created a gap which the alternative labour of female workers had to fill. Joan Mant history draws upon the reminiscences of over 300 'land girls' (as they were affectionately known at the time), to tell the story of life on the wartime farm. Despite the prejudice against women undertaking heavy outdoor work, young women from all walks of life volunteered to serve their country on the land. It was a hard and demanding task involving none of the glamour that life in the armed services seemed to offer. Wages were at subsistence levels and in most cases living conditions were spartan. Those who had volunteered expecting a bucolic life of jolly hay-making were quickly pitch-forked into harsh reality. Eating raw potatoes, keeping clean by bathing in milk sterilisers and starting work at 4 am were common conditions, and accidents - sometimes fatal - added to the hazards endured. But throughout these moving accounts of their lives runs a common thread of humour, camaraderie and pride. Land Girls is a fitting tribute to the WLA's heroic effort to keep food on the nation's table and establishes their well-earned place in the archives of war.

A completely original history of one of the most extraordinary movements in the world - the Girl Guides - and how they helped win the war. Mention Girl Guides to any woman and the reaction will be strong. They either loved them or hated them; they were either proud to wear their uniform or...  more

A completely original history of one of the most extraordinary movements in the world - the Girl Guides - and how they helped win the war. Mention Girl Guides to any woman and the reaction will be strong. They either loved them or hated them; they were either proud to wear their uniform or refused to join. Whatever their feelings, most former Guides retain strong memories of their experiences. All too often regarded merely in terms of biscuit sales and sing-songs, hardly anybody is aware of the massive impact that the Guides had on gender equality and, more fundamentally, the outcome of the Second World War. In this eye-opening history, Janie Hampton explores how the Guides' work was crucial to Britain's victory. When the Blitz broke out, the Guides knew what to do. They kept up morale in bomb shelters, demonstrating 'blitz cooking' with emergency ovens made from the bricks of bombed houses at the request of the Ministry of Food. They grew food on their company allotments and knitted for the entire country. The embodiment of the Home Front spirit, they dug shelters, provided crucial First Aid, and also assisted the millions of children who were forced to flee their city homes to safer places in the country. It is difficult to imagine what the war effort would have looked like without the Guides. Full of fond and funny anecdotes and rich social history, 'How the Guides Won the War' takes us on the journey of one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary movements.

All But My Life is the unforgettable story of Gerda Weissmann Klein's six-year ordeal as a victim of Nazi cruelty. From her comfortable home in Bielitz (present-day Bielsko) in Poland to her miraculous survival and her liberation by American troops--including the man who was to become her...  more

All But My Life is the unforgettable story of Gerda Weissmann Klein's six-year ordeal as a victim of Nazi cruelty. From her comfortable home in Bielitz (present-day Bielsko) in Poland to her miraculous survival and her liberation by American troops--including the man who was to become her husband--in Volary, Czechoslovakia, in 1945, Gerda takes the reader on a terrifying journey. Gerda's serene and idyllic childhood is shattered when Nazis march into Poland on September 3, 1939. Although the Weissmanns were permitted to live for a while in the basement of their home, they were eventually separated and sent to German labor camps. Over the next few years Gerda experienced the slow, inexorable stripping away of "all but her life." By the end of the war she had lost her parents, brother, home, possessions, and community; even the dear friends she made in the labor camps, with whom she had shared so many hardships, were dead. Despite her horrifying experiences, Klein conveys great strength of spirit and faith in humanity. In the darkness of the camps, Gerda and her young friends manage to create a community of friendship and love. Although stripped of the essence of life, they were able to survive the barbarity of their captors. Gerda's beautifully written story gives an invaluable message to everyone. It introduces them to last century's terrible history of devastation and prejudice, yet offers them hope that the effects of hatred can be overcome.

Fewer than five years after World War II, the United States found itself once again confronted by a war for which it was unprepared. Once again a downsized military establishment rushed to call up, draft, and recruit the needed manpower. And once again when it came up short, the services asked...  more

Fewer than five years after World War II, the United States found itself once again confronted by a war for which it was unprepared. Once again a downsized military establishment rushed to call up, draft, and recruit the needed manpower. And once again when it came up short, the services asked American women to leave their homes, jobs, and families to serve their country. This book chronicles the crucial work of servicewomen in the Korean War, and other uniformed women who helped support that war and the burgeoning Cold War in places as far flung as the Pacific atoll of Kwajalein, bases in still-occupied post-war Germany and Japan, and lonely, isolated outposts such as Great Falls, Montana. The few short years between 1945 and 1953 saw pivotal changes in women's status in the U.S. Armed Forces. In a series of controversial and sometimes bitter legislative contests, women went from being almost a historical footnote in the immediate postwar period--a source of labor and skills the nation's military took for granted--to winning a permanent place in each branch of the armed services. Largely based on the rich archives housed at the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation, this volume records the actions of women who served in the armed forces, as well as those in the Red Cross, the USO, and other nongovernmental organizations that sent women overseas in support of U.S. military personnel. Topics include the efforts of the Department of Defense to increase the number of female recruits for the Korean War and the difficulty of retaining them in an era that valued homemakers and devalued career women; the cost to the military of the female talent drain just when the military needed them most; and a close look at Army, Navy and Air Force nurses, as well as those in the innovative M.A.S.H. units, who all performed magnificently under dangerous and harsh conditions. The book's conclusion assesses the failure of the military to fully incorporate women during these years as a result of its own paternalistic mindset (shared by society at large) coupled with the failure of wartime recruiting efforts and the low retention rate for servicewomen. The authors argue that the number of servicewomen remained far below authorized levels throughout this period, and the continued small size of the women's components resulted in their inability to accomplish their mission. According to the authors, this hurt the credibility of the women's services and haunted them for years, reinforcing the rock-solid belief of many that the military was for men, and women did not belong there.

In 1918, the U.S. Army Signal Corps sent 223 women to France at General Pershing’s explicit request. They were masters of the latest technology: the telephone switchboard. While suffragettes picketed the White House and President Wilson struggled to persuade a segregationist Congress to...  more

In 1918, the U.S. Army Signal Corps sent 223 women to France at General Pershing’s explicit request. They were masters of the latest technology: the telephone switchboard. While suffragettes picketed the White House and President Wilson struggled to persuade a segregationist Congress to give women of all races the vote, these courageous young women swore the army oath and settled into their new roles. Elizabeth Cobbs reveals the challenges they faced in a war zone where male soldiers wooed, mocked, and ultimately celebrated them. The army discharged the last Hello Girls in 1920, the year Congress ratified the Nineteenth Amendment. When they sailed home, they were unexpectedly dismissed without veterans’ benefits and began a sixty-year battle that a handful of survivors carried to triumph in 1979.

The impact of the land girls cannot be ignored. It was not just that women were working and farms had more women than men, women who were not part of the family or, for some of them, had even lived in the countryside before - but women were wearing trousers and filling in for men, some of whom...  more

The impact of the land girls cannot be ignored. It was not just that women were working and farms had more women than men, women who were not part of the family or, for some of them, had even lived in the countryside before - but women were wearing trousers and filling in for men, some of whom would never return from war. For the women, their time as land girls changed their lives and how they viewed their own role in society and the family. Using original interviews and photographs from some of these land girls, historian Ann Kramer delves deeper than any previous study to understand the role of the land girls both during and after the Second World War.

The young women who served in South Vietnam with the Red Cross Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO) program were known informally as Red Cross recreation workers. To the American men who served during the Vietnam war they were simply Donut Dollies. Ask any Donut Dollie why...  more

The young women who served in South Vietnam with the Red Cross Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO) program were known informally as Red Cross recreation workers. To the American men who served during the Vietnam war they were simply Donut Dollies. Ask any Donut Dollie why she was in Vietnam and she would tell you that she was there because the men were there. Ranging from large bases such as Cam Ranh Bay to forward Landing Zones and firebases, their job was to provide GIs with a brief respite from the war through games, Kool-aid, or just their presence. In Donut Dollies in Vietnam: Baby-Blue Dresses & OD Green, Nancy Smoyer, who served as a Donut Dollie during 1967-68, writes a poignant memoir of her Vietnam experience, both during and after the Vietnam war. Based on Nancy?s photographs and letters and tapes home, as well as emails written to veteran groups since 1993, she pulls together material from others to share the emotions and events she and other Donut Dollies experienced.