Women in Intelligence by Helen Fry is a fascinating and meticulously researched tribute to the remarkable women who played pivotal roles in British intelligence across the first half of the twentieth century. Fry shines a well-deserved spotlight on their diverse contributions, from running spy networks and interrogating prisoners to interpreting aerial photographs and managing critical operations at Bletchley Park.

The book's strength lies in its breadth and depth, uncovering stories that have often been overlooked or untold. From knitting coded messages into jumpers to parachuting behind enemy lines, these accounts showcase the creativity, bravery, and ingenuity of the women who shaped wartime intelligence. Fry’s detailed research and ability to bring these stories to life make for an engaging read that honours their contributions.

Highly recommended for fans of military history, espionage, and those interested in uncovering the untold stories of extraordinary women.

WOMEN IN INTELLIGENCE is a book that examines the many different roles women have played in the intelligence services across the two world wars.

It's biggest strength is the breadth of its information. The book very much challenges the stereotypes of the femme fatale, showing women in all roles from field agents to secretaries. They were in all parts of the intelligence apparatus, slowly gaining recognition in the face of attitudes at the time. There was a fair bit of sexism to fight against, but I appreciated that the book also highlighted that, thanks to the shortage of men and also the forward thinking nature of some commanders, this was not the case everywhere.

This book does have to contend with a lack of declassified files in many cases - and is very open about this problem. There are many places where only a single tantalising name is mentioned with almost no details. The book does a good job of highlighting how this hints at a world of details still in files that may never be declassified, showing how the information within its pages are just the tip of the iceberg.

One of the downsides to this declassification is that many of the known stories are failures, pieced together from records of capture and death. It is important, though, that the sacrifices and lives lost are well known.

The book can feel a little repetitive at times as there was so much overlap between the different services (not to mention the many, many escape routes - many of which got detailed sections on.) There were so many more (overall) divisions operating then as opposed to today and honestly at times it felt a little bit ridiculous. I am sure there were distinctions between some but I didn't always work it out.

In all, it's strength is the ability to cast light across a wide range of roles over 30 years of an evolving, strenuous period of British intelligence services in Europe.

A well-written and interesting book for fans of The Sandbaggers and The Americans. It's good to see stories retrieved from the past about people who were just as present in the past as the men we've read about.

I love reading about the role of women in wars, so this was a no-brainer, I just had to read It. It didn't disapoint. Really interesting and well researched.

I've watched many WWI and WW2 spy and espionage films and women play such a small role in them so I was very excited to read this book. It felt very well researched and covered far more women than I was expecting. It had some fascinating stories that deserve to be told.

I highly recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the Author for giving me the opportunity to review this ARC.

Ich weiß ehrlich gesagt nicht, wie ich dieses Buch bewerten soll, da ich es aufgrund relativ kurzer Ausleihdauer (ohne Verlängerung) nicht lesen konnte.

An interesting look at some amazing women; well-written and a valuable bit of scholarship, as well. However, I (ultimately) found my interest waning over time and did not finish the book.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the Author for giving me the opportunity to review this ARC.

This book covers the role played by women in British intelligence in the twentieth century. The author had obviously done a great deal of research on a topic which is clearly difficult to track down due to its secretive nature. Although the writing style is very clear and understandable, I found it very much a descriptive and fact reporting approach without a lot of in depth analysis of background and operational detail. I wish there were more stories and details in the content.

However, I must note that as the book progresses, there does seem to be more detailed stories behind the people identified. This may be due to better more accessible records in later years.

I loved this in-depth look at some of the women who served their country during the World Wars. Erudite and knowledge rich without being dull or patronising, this book is a great addition to the many, many books about the period.

I loved finding out more about the role of women in two of the most important events in the history. We hear so many things about men doing or how much they did in history and most of the time it feels like that was all about but as read in this book women had an equal importance in the wars and it's good to learn more about it. All people, regardless their gender, should know this information.

I received an advanced reader’s copy through Netgalley, although the opinions are my own.
My taste in books is somewhat eclectic, I stumbled onto a biography not that long ago of a lady codebreaker in America, who came from my home state. And I’ve kinda been interested ever since. How cool was this book?! All the groundbreaking they did as women in a field you don’t hear much about. I have now added a bunch of books to my tbr pile. I like the format of this one with little nuggets of stories, it’s easy to put down and come back too without worrying I’ve forgotten too much. Highly recommend this book

Helen Fry’s latest book delves into the long and complex history of women’s work as spies and saboteurs in World Wars I and II. Focusing on the actions of women such as Mata Hari, Edith Cavell, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, and Virginia Hall, Fry explores the actions of these incredible women spies and the risks they took during two immensely dangerous and high-stakes wars. With the added complexities of twentieth century technology and warfare, Fry explores the training, missions, and responsibilities of these clever, capable, and dangerous real women. Fry explores the duties of women back on the home front, filling government positions and other occupations vacated by men serving on the front lines at Bletchley Park and Whitehall, among other secret locations. Fry’s exploration of the interwar years and women’s intelligence work during this period is particularly fascinating, and she does an incredible job of bringing many historical narrative threads together in this incredible work of historical research. Fry’s prose is, of course, incredible, and she brings the many historical women to life, highlighting their accomplishments, risks, and bravery throughout this work. This latest book about the history of espionage and military intelligence is a complex, clear, and engaging read history fans are sure to enjoy.

The parts of this book I managed to read before I decided this would be a very rare DNF, was extremely well researched. Unfortunately I felt it was too much like a name-dropping history lesson and not what I was expecting. This was probably my fault for not reading the description carefully enough, my apologies. I've given it 4* to not detract from other reviewers' ratings.

A wonderful deep dive into the history of women in the world of spying and intelligence gathering; the decades of women's work going untold is shown and explored in great detail by Helen Fry, game changers coming from all around and the most unlikely of places. Every one of their contributions held significant weight, changing the world even as many would not have their attributions revealed to the world until long after their deaths.

Shining a light on the role played by women in Intelligence during the first half of the 20th century, this is an informative and refreshing read. Covering both war and its buildup this book is great for anyone interested in this aspect of conflict and the part women played. Thoroughly researched, using a huge variety of resources, it really brings home the dangers they faced and highlights their bravery. Sadly they did not all survive to tell their tale, but this book does it for them and their stories are both fascinating and thrilling. It's great to see these women recognised for the work that they did- a thoroughly recommended read!

Excellent book and very well researched. I learnt a great deal about the role of women in intelligence during WWII, and found the way in which this book was written not boring or dragging. It really doesn't read like the normal history books we associate with non fiction.

This was absolutely fascinating. It was so well researched, and yet didn't feel 'dense' as so often happens with books like this.

I loved reading about all the women, without whom we may not have won the war. Their dedication to their country and the bravery they showed really was astonishing.

Highly recommend.

I adore reading about how different intelligence services were formed, grew, and stories about the people involved. Whilst there have been books about individual females, I think that this is the first history of women in the service . Highly recommended!

Just a fabulous look at women in intelligence. I haven’t read anything like it before, and am so glad for the look. I will definitely be recommending it.

I've always adored spy stories, especially non fiction. This is an extremely well researched collection of women who would definitely deserve more recognition for the incredible work they did. I really loved so much reading this one and I definitely recommend to anyone who likes the period of World War II.