Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II

Military analyst Andrews debuts with an enlightening revisionist history spotlighting combat support by women in WWII. In addition to working in factories, offices, and depots around the country, more than 350,000 women served in the WAACs (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps), the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Service), and other all-female corps. They brought tenacity, patience, and charismatic leadership to their roles, Andrews writes, but they earned half of what men were paid, were not assigned ranks, and were subject to a code of conduct stricter than the men’s. The book’s subjects served, among other roles, as advisers, cryptologists, draftswomen, nurses, oceanographers, spies, teachers, and transporters. For example, Charity Adams led the Black women of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion who broke up the massive backlog of mail sent to soldiers at the Battle of the Bulge; test pilot Florene Miller flew planes across the United States to prepare them for missions overseas; and instrument mechanic Jessie Kontrabecki repaired planes for the Navy before training men to fly them. Through interviews with the few servicewomen still alive and comprehensive research, Andrews takes an ingenious look at WWII “in a different way.” It’s a must-read for women’s and military history buffs. (Aug.)