Women at War in World War II: The Women of World War II at Home, at Work, on the Front Line - Tapa dura

The contributions of women during our war effort - seemingly reduced to one small paragraph in most history books - is now given the importance and recognition it so rightfully deserves in the pages of Women at War in World War II. --Dolores Hope [married to WWII entertainer Bob Hope]

Women at War in World War II is a wonderful untold story of the unsung heroines of World War II - from the welders in war plants to the newswomen and nurses who went to the front. They defied the cliche about women's place in the home. They were needed - and so is this book, to give them their long-deserved salute. --Helen Thomas, Hearst Newspapers columnist

Women's role in World War II has long been recognized but seldom acknowledged in print. The wives, moms, sisters, and daughters who served - in war factories on the home front to the hospitals and press rooms on the field of battle - merit this nostalgic tribute to their efforts. --Mary Doyle Keefe [aka Rosie the Riveter]

When the men went off to the front in World War II, a huge vacuum was left behind in the family, in the workplace, and in society at large. Women soon stepped into the breach - in the factories, on the farms, in transport and public services, as well as in auxiliary military services, intelligence and espionage. Women endured the hardships of separation and rationing, as well as aerial bombardment, arrest, interrogation and perhaps imprisonment in a labour camp. Socially, women gained new skills and acquired a new sense of freedom, independence and equality, which they would take with them into the post-war world. From a German pin-up to American photographers, from Japanese women's police to all women British orchestras, from Soviet women typists in the field to German pilots, from prisoners of war to secret agents, Women at War in World War II is a testament to these courageous and capable women and their experience, in both Allied and Axis countries. Included are first-person accounts, from the London air-raid warden to nurses caught in the raids on Pearl Harbor to flight technicians in Toronto. Authoritatively written and including 300 colour and black-&-white photographs as well as evocative artworks from the period, Women at War in World War II is a poignant tribute to the courage and bravery of those who served, and explores how their experiences forever changed the lives of women who followed.