Review of "Women Wartime Spies," by Ann Kramer

 Review of

Women Wartime Spies, by Ann Kramer, ISBN 9781606711675

Five out of five stars

Anything but the seductress

 When most people hear the phrase “woman wartime spies” their first thought is often that of the sexy seductress enticing men to go stupid and give up some of their side’s military secrets. This is reinforced by the fact that when many people think of female spies their mind goes to the only female spy they have heard of, Mata Hari. The reality is quite different, history has distorted the role of Mata Hari, as is made clear here her role in espionage has been vastly overstated.

 Another fact that is key to the stories here is that some of the women that operated in occupied Europe against the Germans in World War II were parachuted in. Others managed to travel by land and cross the existing borders separating the unoccupied and occupied land. All were volunteers and new the risks. Many of them paid with their lives, although they provided valuable information to the Allied planners as they developed their elaborate battle plans.

 What makes this book so interesting is that there is little to none of the sexy seductress form of spying that is the staple of books and movies. These women engaged in collecting information, acted as couriers of that information and operated radios in sending and receiving critical data regarding war operations.

 Operating in occupied France was very dangerous, for the Germans had many French collaborators, so it was always a risk to do anything that could be perceived as anti-German. Some of the women were captured and tortured in an attempt to make them betray their comrades. Few did and many were killed.

 This is a great book as it demonstrates how some women willingly engaged in espionage where the risk of exposure was imprisonment or death. From it the reader learns about a different category of courage and determination.

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