The stories of these courageous women are incredible. Restrictions placed on them by authorities at the beginning of the war, such as, prohibiting them from combat areas, were not enough to stop them. These women told stories that were not being told by others. This highly readable book tells the stories of the women behind the bylines.
I read this 458-page book while I had four other books open as well, but I found myself continuously searching it out to read. This is the entertaining story of the women who went places they were allowed and many places they weren't. Of the few men who punished them for it, and the far more numerous men, including the fighting men, who either helped them or pretended not to see them breaking regulations.
Sometimes their innocence almost cost them their lives. For example, one female reporter, who was "illegally" on Iwo Jima, remarked about the sounds of insects passing by her after she came down off a ridge. She was then told there were no insects on Iwo, those were just Japanese bullets missing her. Then there was the woman reporter who entered the Dachau concentration camp before the Americans liberated it.
They went where they weren't suppose to and sometimes they were arrested, or held captive, even by Allies. These are the stories of women who went from writing society columns to holding flashlights while surgeons operated on wounded men under enemy fire. And many of them proved that they could report on the war and still have a love life, or many loves. In the end, some of them went home to more sedate lives and careers and some never gave up their craft.
All of them had their stories and these stories are fascinating. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in journalism or World War II.
Sometimes their innocence almost cost them their lives. For example, one female reporter, who was "illegally" on Iwo Jima, remarked about the sounds of insects passing by her after she came down off a ridge. She was then told there were no insects on Iwo, those were just Japanese bullets missing her. Then there was the woman reporter who entered the Dachau concentration camp before the Americans liberated it.
They went where they weren't suppose to and sometimes they were arrested, or held captive, even by Allies. These are the stories of women who went from writing society columns to holding flashlights while surgeons operated on wounded men under enemy fire. And many of them proved that they could report on the war and still have a love life, or many loves. In the end, some of them went home to more sedate lives and careers and some never gave up their craft.
All of them had their stories and these stories are fascinating. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in journalism or World War II.
If you are someone who loves historical non-fiction then this is the book for you. To be completely honest though, I did not finish it. It's quite long, there are a ton of different women that it follows throughout different parts of the war and different locations, and I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. It's definitely interesting material and a subject that everyone should know more about, I just knew that when I was already pretty lost with the characters, forcing myself through the second half would be more to say I finished it than because I actually enjoyed the book.
