Women World War

At the height of World War II, the British Air Transport Auxiliary need help. A group of young women volunteer for action, but the perils of their new job don’t end on the tarmac. Things are tough in the air, but on the ground their abilities as pilots are constantly questioned. There is friction from the start between the new recruits. Spirited American Lizzie turns heads with her audacity, but few can deny her flying skills. She couldn’t be more different from shy, petite Ruby, who is far from diminutive in the sky. It falls to pragmatic pilot May to bring the women together.

"Quelli che riecheggiano lassù, fra le cime, non sono tuoni. Il fragore delle bombe austriache scuote anche i villaggi, mille metri più giù. Restiamo soltanto noi donne, ed è a noi che il comando militare italiano chiede aiuto: alle nostre schiene, alle nostre gambe, alla nostra conoscenza di quelle vette e dei segreti per risalirle. Dobbiamo andare, altrimenti quei poveri ragazzi moriranno anche di fame. Questa guerra mi ha tolto tutto, lasciandomi solo la paura. Mi ha tolto il tempo di prendermi cura di mio padre malato, il tempo di leggere i libri che riem­piono la mia casa.

Farhana Qazi draws on her background as a pioneering counterterrorism professional and a devout Muslim to offer an insider’s view of what drives girls and women to join radical Islamic movements and how we can keep them from making this terrible choice.

Kiyo's father arrived in California determined to plant his roots in the land of opportunity after leaving Japan. He, his wife, and their nine American-born children labored in the fields together, building a successful farm. Yet at the outbreak of World War II, Kiyo's family was ordered to Poston Internment Camp. This memoir tells the story of the family's struggle to endure in these harsh conditions and to rebuild their lives afterward in the face of lingering prejudice.

La novela que saca a la luz la historia de las mujeres españolas obligadas a prostituirse en los campos de concentración. Yo, Isadora Ramírez García, que perdí mi nombre cuando abandoné España junto a mi madre, Carmen, y a mi tía Teresa en 1939 en busca de mi hermano Ignacio, voy a contarte mi historia, María. Para que sepas quién soy y quién era tu abuela, y todo aquello que reunió a nuestras familias durante la Guerra Civil para separarlas después. Sabrás de sus pérdidas, que fueron las mías, del dolor inhumano y las lágrimas constantes…

Women in the War beautifully weaves together the oral histories of 10 remarkable women who dedicated their young adulthood to the war effort. From aiding codebreaking at Bletchley Park to plotting the Battle of the Atlantic and working alongside Churchill in the War Rooms below Whitehall, these are the women who helped to defend the Home Front and kept Britain going. Now with the wisdom of age, they look back at how they coped with danger, trauma and stress, and tell how their spirits were fortified by friendship, fellowship and romance.

When Hazel is given the chance to parachute into Nazi-occupied France, she seizes the opportunity to do more for the British war effort than file paperwork. Alongside her childhood friend, French-born Rose, she quickly rises up the ranks of the freedom fighters. For Rose, the Resistance is a link to her late husband, and a way to move forward without him. What starts out as helping downed airmen becomes a bigger cause when they meet Sophia, a German escapee and fierce critic of Hitler who is wanted by the Gestapo.

Berlin, 1934. Homes once filled with laughter stand empty as the Nazi party’s grip on the city tightens. When Anna Tiegel’s beautiful best friend catches Reich Minister Goebbels’ special attention, an impulsive act to save her brings Anna under his unforgiving scrutiny. First, she loses her job, then slowly, mercilessly, she finds her life stripped away. After her father is killed by the Nazis, Anna’s final hope is to escape to America with her boyfriend Eddy, but when she reaches his apartment on the agreed date, she finds it deserted.

Anna Cavanaugh is a restless young widow and brilliant French teacher at an all-girls school in Washington, DC. Everything changes when she’s recruited into the Office of Strategic Services by family friend and legendary WWI hero Major General William Donovan. Donovan has faith in her - and in all his “glorious amateurs” who are becoming Anna’s fast friends: Maggie, Anna’s down-to-earth mentor; Irene, who’s struggling to find support from her husband for her clandestine life; and Julia, a cheerful OSS liaison.

Considering herself unsuitable for any other contribution to the war effort, Monica Dickens opts for nursing, imagining herself gliding through the wards, serene in a pure white halo cap. On enrolment, however, she is promptly stripped of all illusions. Intelligent and headstrong, Monica struggles to submit to the iron rule of the Matron and toils over the mountains of menial work that are a trainee's lot. But there are friends among the staff and patients, night-time escapades to dances with dashing army men and her secret writing project to keep her going.

Vittoria is a noble Jewish woman living in northern Italy. With the onset of World War II, her life changes completely. When the Nazis arrive in the quiet town, the entire family is forced to flee and cross the border to Switzerland using fake identities. But not everything goes according the plan. One of her children is not allowed to cross the border with the rest of the family and must be left behind. Now, Vittoria must make a critical decision that could scar her and the family forever.

Septima Collis, a native of South Carolina, married Union general Charles H.T. Collis prior to the Civil War. She supported and accompanied her husband during the Civil War. This rendition is beautifully narrated by Suzi Woods.

Taking over from her father and grandfather as the head of the Survivor’s Campaign, an organization whose purpose is to bring Nazi war criminals to justice, Milia Gottstein has dedicated her life to making sure the voices of Holocaust victims will never be silenced. It is an overwhelming and heartbreaking mission that has often usurped her time and energy being a wife to busy surgeon Julius, and a mother and grandmother. But now, just as she is finally ready to pass on her work to others, an unexpected phone call suddenly explodes all she thought she knew about her present and her future.

Hamburg, 1943. Die junge Petra muss aus dem vom Zweiten Weltkrieg gezeichneten Deutschland fliehen. Auf sich allein gestellt, gelingt es ihr allen Widrigkeiten zum Trotz, sich ein neues Leben in Amerika aufzubauen. Von Selbstzweifeln geplagt tritt sie den Ambition Girls bei, einer Gruppe von Hoffnungsträgerinnen für US-Soldaten. Unter großem Druck wächst Petra über sich hinaus. Mit ihrer neugewonnenen Kraft setzt sie sich für Minderheiten im vom Rassentrennung geprägten Amerika ein. Als sie schließlich für eine Sondermission ausgewählt wird, erlebt sie die Schrecken des Krieges hautnah.

June 6, 1944. Allied forces hit the beaches of Nazi-occupied France. Among the countless lives shattered are those of five spirited women with starkly different lives. As the war reaches its tipping point, each of the women fight for the survival of themselves, their countries, and their way of life during one of the most pivotal days in history. Now, during the most perilous hours of their lives, all five women must summon courage they never knew they had as they confront the dangers of war alongside treacherous family secrets, heartbreak, and the ability to trust themselves.

The events of World War 2 are often associated with male endeavor, particularly in war books. However, extraordinarily brave and courageous women not only assisted their male counterparts, but played key roles that had ultimately contributed to the success of winning the war. This book provides a platform on which to remember those fearless, forgotten WW2 women, whose stories deserve to be told. Who were these courageous women who laid their lives on the line in WW2 history?

Betty MacDonald was a 28-year-old reporter from Hawaii. Zuzka Lauwers grew up in a tiny Czechoslovakian village and knew five languages by the time she was 21. Jane Smith-Hutton was the wife of a naval attaché living in Tokyo. Marlene Dietrich, the German-American actress and singer, was one of the biggest stars of the 20th century. These four women, each fascinating in her own right, together contributed to one of the most covert and successful military campaigns in WWII.

The last time Valerie was in Paris, she was three years old, running from the Nazis, away from the only home she had ever known. Now as a young woman all alone in the world, Valerie must return to Paris, to the bookshop and her sole surviving relative, her grandfather Vincent, the only person who knows the truth about what happened to her parents. As she gets to know grumpy, taciturn Vincent again, she hears a tragic story of Nazi-occupied Paris, a doomed love affair, and a mother willing to sacrifice everything for her beloved daughter.

Angelina Green never knew her mother, who left her in a cardboard box by the East London docks on a freezing November night when she was a tiny baby. Saved by a local orphanage, she knows she owes her life to the kindness of others. And she’s determined to repay her debt by working as a nurse. Strong, kind and patient, Angelina is a natural on the ward. But when war breaks out in 1914 and she is sent to The Front, her courage is tested like never before....

When Jess bumps into Milan unexpectedly, sparks are reignited, and she wonders if she made a mistake finishing with him in Amberton. But matters are complicated when a film company arrives at Bentley Priory to make a morale-boosting film about the RAF. The lead actor is none other than Leonard Steele, a man from Jess’ past who could ruin everything she has worked so hard to build.