Wartime Women

artime Women examines in detail the short-term changes of the war years; the jobs in war plants and support services; the effects of women's earnings on family finances; the response of trade unions. Anderson shows that the seeds of the postwar denial of women's equal participation were present in the ambivalence of wartime attitudes. Crammed with information perceptively interpreted.

“A thrilling, challenging and educational book . . . examines the roles of spies such a Edith Cavell, Mata Hari, Violette Szabo and Noor Inayat Khan” (Pennant Magazine). Women spies have rarely received the recognition they deserve. They have often been trivialized and, in cinema and popular fiction, stereotyped as vamps or dupes. The reality is very different. As spies, women have played a critical role during wartime, receiving and passing on vital information, frequently at considerable risk. Often able to blend into their background more easily than their male counterparts, women have worked as couriers, transmitters, and with resistance fighters, their achievements often unknown. Many have died. Ann Kramer describes the role of women spies during wartime, with particular reference to the two world wars. She looks at why some women chose to become spies, their motives, and backgrounds. She looks at the experience of women spies during wartime, what training they received, and what skills they needed. She examines the reality of life for a woman spy, operating behind enemy lines, and explores and explodes the myths about women spies that continue until the present day. The focus is mainly on Britain but also takes an international view as appropriate. “Tells the often surprising stories of some of the women who chose to become spies and to serve their country . . . An excellent work.” —The Great War Magazine

Experience the incredible determination, resilience and sacrifice of Canadian women during the First and Second World Wars. War brought enormous changes to Canadian women's lives. They adapted to the conditions of total war in practical terms ? working, volunteering and serving in uniform. In the wake of war's inevitable tragedies, they also faced other challenges. The contributions made by women to the Canadian war efforts were crucial, and their experiences forged a new understanding of women's capabilities both within themselves and within society. Through photographs, artwork, diaries and mementoes, including a Memorial Cross presented to the mother of a fallen soldier, this souvenir catalogue reveals deeply personal stories of life in service and on the home front.

This comparative, interdisciplinary book explores the responses of the women's movement to World War I in all of the major belligerent nations. The contributors cover key topics including women's relationship with the state, women's war service, mothers in wartime, suffrage, peace and the aftermath of war, and women's guilt and responsibility.

Using a very wide range of detailed sources, the book surveys the many different experiences of women during the Second World War.

This is the first book to describe and analyze the experience of women in African civil wars. A mixture of reportage, testimony and scholarship, the book includes contributions from women in Chad, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa and Sudan. The political context of these conflicts is outlined in an introduction to each chapter. The book profiles women's responses to war, as combatants as well as victims, and describes the groups women organize in the aftermath. Examining rape and other forms of gendered political violence in African civil wars, this extraordinary volume is also about women taking action for change. It is set to become required reading for students and academics of women's, peace and African studies.

Essays analyze the two world wars in respect to gender politics and reassesses the differences between men and women in relation to war

The First World War was the cause of dramatic changes in every Canadian community. What it meant to daily life becomes clear in this book about the war years in Guelph, Ontario. The first months were the easiest, as young men rushed to enlist. Once news of casualties and deaths started arriving, the atmosphere changed drastically. Mothers dreaded the arrival of the telegraph boy. Newspapers published fulsome obituaries which could not obscure the tragedy of their deaths. Tensions emerged — one compelling example being a secret military and police night-time raid on a Catholic seminary just outside the town, looking for young men hiding from conscription. With these stories, Edward Butts offers a compelling portrait of people trying to make sense of a war with little evident logic. His account helps explain why the cause of the League of Nations and efforts to ensure peace in the 1920s and 1930s were so powerful amongst Canadians who had learned about the real impact of wartime on ordinary people. Through the use of primary resources including articles from the local press, letters from overseas, and newsreels in the cinema, Butts captures the reality of the First World War for Canadians at home.