Military analyst Lena Andrews debuts with Valiant Women (Mariner Books), an enlightening 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 all-female army 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. Through interviews with the few servicewomen still alive and comprehensive research, Andrews takes an ingenious look at WWII “in a different way.”
As a historian and longtime student of WWII, I’ve gotten one question more than any other about my work: what could there possibly be left to learn about WWII? The question itself isn’t all that surprising. After all, the war is among the most well-documented, studied, written about, and fictionalized subjects in American history, so it’s hard to blame someone for thinking they already know the whole story. What is surprising to many people, however, is my answer: there is, in fact, a lot left to learn about WWII—and nowhere is this more the case than when it comes to women’s roles in the war effort.
Fortunately, in recent years, several excellent works of nonfiction have, with a combination of rigorous research and compelling storytelling, shed light on the contributions of women to fighting and winning the war. Above all else, this growing genre reveals in vivid detail just how much we owe the extraordinary women of WWII. Paying that debt starts with recognizing their service and knowing their stories. The following 10 books are a great place to start.
1. Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy
This, for me, was a watershed book on women in WWII. Mundy’s success in placing an inherently fantastic story—the history of American women who served as codebreakers during the war—in its appropriate historical context proves once and for all that women’s war stories are interesting, important, and exciting. The book is written for the generalist reader and, despite its grounding in thorough research, the narrative never loses any sense of intrigue. Come for a great, true story, and stay for the pitch-perfect writing
2. The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich
It takes only a few pages to recognize why Alexievich won the Nobel Prize in Literature. “Why,” she asks, “having stood up for and held their own place in a once absolutely male world, have women not stood up for their history?” From there, Alexievich gives us a raw exploration of Soviet women’s experiences in WWII, resulting in perhaps the most intense, important, and impactful history of the war I’ve ever read. The experiences of Soviet women, who not only served in the military but were directly involved in combat, provide an unexpected window into the conflict that is at once haunting, inspiring, and heartbreaking.
3. The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan
Judging from most depictions of the Manhattan Project—including the recent film Oppenheimer—most people could be forgiven for thinking that no women, or at least very few women, were involved in the American project to build atomic weapons. But Kiernan takes us one step closer to the truth, telling the story of the American women who participated in the secret work done at Oak Ridge, Tenn., which directly supported the pursuit of the bomb. This is a vital corrective to our understanding of how the United States developed a weapon that fundamentally changed the nature of modern warfare.
4. A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell
My appreciation and affection for Virginia Hall, the incomparable American spy who paved the way for generations of women in the intelligence community, knows no bounds. But even measured against this almost-unachievable standard, Purnell provides a comprehensive and riveting portrait of this legendary woman. Purnell doesn’t shy away from Hall’s complexities and contradictions while offering a fitting and captivating tribute to Hall’s trailblazing work. It’s a story that grabs you and won’t let go.
5. Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler by Lynne Olson
Another excellent entry in the women-as-spies category is Olsen’s detailed study of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, a relatively unknown but unusually heroic member of the French resistance who developed one of the most extensive spy networks in the war. Fourcade’s story is a harrowing one and, in Olson’s capable hands, it serves as a reminder that many women took extraordinary risks in service of the Allies. This remains one of my favorite books because it’s a testament to the fact that wartime heroics know no gender.
6. D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II by Sarah Rose
Adding to the rich and growing literature on unheralded women who served in the intelligence apparatus during WWII, D-Day Girls gives readers significant insights into the British side of the intelligence story, and the critical ways in which women contributed to intelligence operations during the war. Rose highlights how the women of the British Special Operations Executive used their unique skills and identities to undertake acts of daring that gave me chills when I read about them.
7. The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II by Mari Eder
There are many reasons to love Eder’s contribution to our understanding of women’s participation in WWII, but one of them is the sensibility that she brings to the topic as a retired Army major general. Not only does Eder provide readers with a comprehensive survey of the many ways in which women contributed to winning the war, but her ability to understand and appreciate their experiences comes through on every page.
8. The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II by Katherine Sharp Landdeck
This relatively recent addition to the history of women in WWII focuses solely on the enthralling story of the American women who volunteered to serve in the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. Landdeck does an incredible job of weaving together the stories of the individual women with the larger wartime and aviation trends playing out in the United States, giving readers a real sense of what her subjects were up against.
9. And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II by Evelyn Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee
This remains one of my favorites in large part because it’s one of the few, comprehensive histories of American servicewomen who served in essential roles as Army nurses. Monahan and Neidel-Green knit together an immersive, theater-by-theater narrative of the dangerous, heroic, and exhilarating stories of American Army nurses, who often faced some of the most difficult and traumatizing conditions but are rarely remembered for it.
10. To Serve My Country, to Serve My Race: The Story of the Only African-American WACS Stationed Overseas During World War II by Brenda L. Moore
While there are very few well-known histories of women of color who served in WWII, many of the best accounts in this genre are written by Brenda Moore. In her exhaustive study of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion—the Army’s largest all-Black, all-female unit to serve overseas—Moore provides an honest and inspiring portrait of the hurdles that women of color overcame to serve their country. While the women of the Six Triple Eight are finally getting their deserved credit in the larger conversation about WWII, Moore’s book remains one of the best and most detailed studies of their contributions.
