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Women in Intelligence

The Hidden History of Two World Wars

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About this listen

A groundbreaking history of women in British intelligence, revealing their pivotal role across the first half of the twentieth century

From the twentieth century onward, women took on an extraordinary range of roles in intelligence, defying the conventions of their time. Across both world wars, far from being a small part of covert operations, women ran spy networks and escape lines, parachuted behind enemy lines, and interrogated prisoners. And, back in Bletchley and Whitehall, women's vital administrative work in MI offices kept the British war engine running.

In this major, panoramic history, Helen Fry looks at the rich and varied work women undertook as civilians and in uniform. From spies in the Belgian network "La Dame Blanche," knitting coded messages into jumpers, to those who interpreted aerial images and even ran entire sections, Fry shows just how crucial women were in the intelligence mission. Filled with hitherto unknown stories, Women in Intelligence places new research on record for the first time and showcases the inspirational contributions of these remarkable women.

©2023 Helen Fry (P)2024 Tantor Freedom & Security Military Politics & Government Women Espionage War Imperialism
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A very thorough explanation of how women worked in intelligence during the wars and afterwards.

Very good

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Robotic voice with no flow or expression. The book is wonderful but not the audible version

Terrible recording

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The actualy story was fascinating, but the narration was appalling! The speed was all over the place and in no way consistent, and despite the narrator having a British accent, she used so many American pronunciations. That would have been fine if the subject matter was American, but it was about British and European women.

Awful audio

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Many good stories, but the narration speed varies from normal to v e r r r y slow - like someone's messing with the recording. It is distracting and annoying, hence the lower score.

Stop messing with the narration speed

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Having read all of Helens books with 2 of them in my top 5 reads (The walls have ears at No1), this effort was overall tinged with disappointment. The anti men feeling was quite noticeable so much so I considered putting the book down after 4 chapters, I continued because I am interested in the efforts of women in intelligence during wartime and the backdrop was clear enough from the outset, It was not necessary to highlight the inequalities women faced with such regularity. This book felt rushed & unstructured even given the lack of information for the obvious reasons. I doubt the anti male sentiment is Helens as her admiration for people like TJ Kendrick among others is evident from previous books but this effort seems to have gone through the filter of a teenage genders studies wannabe which was on occasion reflected in the tone of the narrator (whose hesitancy & odd emphasis was unimpressive) makes it unpalatable.
All that said, I will never lose my admiration for those women like Baggert who almost certainly saved many many lives. A special place is reserved for Minsk and those nuns who are the epitome of bravery.

A little disappointing.

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