An excellent, well-documented book about the work of four women in WWII, Propaganda Girls is full of detail about how propaganda works and worked in various projects, ranging from operations to bring down German morale to convincing Japanese fighters that it was honorable to surrender. Rogak confronts the sexism and other bigotries of the day head-on in chronicling the women's careers, aspirations, and challenges, explaining why they were qualified for what they did and how they did their jobs. Lively and written in a conversational style, this is sure to please a wide range of readers.

This is the incredible story of four women who did their part for the war effort by creating black propaganda. This propaganda had the sole aim to break the morale of the Axis soldiers.

Rogak has crafted an easy to read account of four amazing women that were drawn to serving their country. It appears to be thoroughly researched, yet not overly technical. This was a perfect read for international women’s month.

Thank you to the publisher for a review copy of this wonderful book. Propaganda Girls is an examination of the role that a handful of women played during WWII in crafting propaganda that was used to demoralize and sway the opinion of the Axis powers, both within the civilian and the military.

This book is enjoyably readable and progresses easily through the pre-war and war periods and also tell us what happened to these ladies after they left their positions with the OSS. For me, this was a new area of exploration as I was unaware of much of the propaganda efforts throughout the war, and especially with the role that women members of the OSS performed.

What was disheartening is seeing the toll it took on each of their lives for the sacrifices they made to assist in the war effort. The failed marriages, loss of careers, and feelings of losing their purpose after the war ended was heartbreaking. All of these women should be celebrated for their actions.

I enjoyed this book immensely and almost finished it in one go as I didn't really find a time where I wanted to put it down because I had lost interest in it. Well done, Lisa Rogak!!!

Loved it!
Of the four women covered in this book.

I knew about Marlene Dietrich's USO tours but was not aware that she was an OSS 'Morale Office" employee.
Also never knew (but am not surprised) that Hitler and his officers had a price on her head. Loved the insight
into her life provided by her daughter. Added more depth to an already fascination woman's story.

Also was shocked to find out that Jane Smith-Hutton wrote one of my favorite books when I was a child,
'Inky: The Seeing Eye Dog'. My tattered, beloved copy of this book is somewhere in the attic I'm sure.
I had no clue about her life, and 'Propaganda Girls' provided me with a detailed narrative. KUDOS!

Betty McDonald's narative of her first hand experience of the bombing of Pearl Harbor was gripping.
And her description of Julia Child on the hair-raising flight over 'The Hump' of the Himalaya's was hilarious
and on point for what I've read of Mrs. Child's demeanor.

Zuzka Lauwers story is the one that I'm most obliged for 'The Propaganda Girls' introduction. I am sure
that I would never have known about her without the help of this book.

All of these women are stellar examples of what we're capable of with just a little leeway and wit. And the
contempt they all seem to have dealt with (especially by the military higher ups) is maddening. Saddeningly
the fact that women have to do five times the work to be recognized and STILL are not adequately compensated
for their time and effort is still quite unfortunately in effect today.

World War Two history readers will enjoy this well researched book about the lives of four women heavily involved in the OSS and MO. Looking for a historical fiction work, I found it more of non-fiction. This book did reflect the frustrations of women trying to help in the war in a man’s field. Their efforts in war strategies were highly commendable and deserve recognition.

This book tells the powerful stories of four remarkable women who, in their own unique ways, stood up for what they believed in and played pivotal roles during World War II. Each of them displayed incredible bravery, intelligence, and resourcefulness, using their talents and voices to advocate for an end to the war. What struck me most was how distinct each woman’s story was, yet how crucial their contributions were in the larger fight. I was astounded by how little-known their efforts are, especially their work with the OSS. I found it fascinating how they used propaganda, derived from information gathered from POWs, to influence the course of the war. This book is incredibly well-written and thoroughly researched, offering a fresh perspective on an often-overlooked chapter of history.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Lisa Rogak for the e-ARC.

An absolutely fascinating look at four women, three you probably don't know and one, Marlene Dietrich, you probably do know, and the roles they played with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War 2. In many clever ways, these women created propaganda to try to demoralize the enemy.

Very well written, this highly readable book looked at each woman's background and how they came to be involved with the OSS and also the challenges each faced in creating the propaganda.

The author offered an amazing level of research in this must-read book for readers interested in World War 2 topics.

Highly recommended!!

Go to any bookstore, library or online bookstore and you will find at least one book about World War II. Propaganda Girls, is a much needed book, that must be read by anyone interested in WWII. Bestselling author Lisa Rogak introduces us to four women who played a crucial role in the creation of propaganda that helped change the course of history and that many of us do not know of.

All for women worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to today’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Their boss, General “Wild Bill” Donovan, wanted to hire creative, dedicated and quirky women who had unique skills. The women were tasked with the creation of propaganda that would damage the moral of axis powers.
Betty MacDonald was a young woman working as a reporter from Hawaii. Like all Hawaiians, the morning of December 7, 1941, changed the life of Betty. The attack of Pearl Harbor triggered a desire to contribute to fighting the war. Through her words, she contributed to change the course of the war. Barbara “Zuzka” Lauwers was not a citizen of the United States, nonetheless, she felt a hatred for Nazis. The bombing of Pearl Harbor altered her life as much as it did for Betty’s. Jane Smith-Hutton was a woman who liked to keep herself busy. She was the wife of a naval attaché who were living in Japan on December 7, 1941. Jane’s love for Asian culture, fluency in Japanese provided her with a much-coveted skill that was pivotal to changing the course of the war. Marlene Dietrich perhaps one of the most recognized names of the 20th century. Marlene was a German actress and singer whose ultimate revenge against Nazi Germany was to renounce her German citizenship and became a US citizen. She risked her life on numerous occasions to help her boys and even had a prize target from Hitler. All four women used their unique skills and contributed to the most covert and successful military campaigns in WWII.

The book is divided into chapters that focus on each woman and go back and forth. Lisa Rogak did a splendid job of unearthing information and allowing us to know what each woman did to help during the war.


Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC in exchange of an honest review of the book received.

“Did I hate the Germans? The Japanese? Not really. I helped make up the slogans to make the other people hate,” she said. “Packaged hate, like packaged breakfast foods, produced by the ad man in uniform. And249 a prize of a promise in every package— the corner drugstore, ice cubes, America.”

Happy International Women’s Day (and yes, it’s real - despite what any Apple or Google calendar will now tell you)! And, thanks to both @macmillan.audio and @stmartinspress, I was able to recently read and listen to such a fitting book: a #gifted copy of PROPAGANDA GIRLS: The Secret War of the Women in the OSS by Lisa Rogak.

This was the fascinating, well-researched story of four women who were responsible for brainstorming, creating, and strategizing the release of propaganda that eventually helped win WWII. They created parody newsletters and manuals in other languages; they strategized to release them via airplane or by strategically recruitment POWs to their cause. It was truly fascinating to see how they manipulated the enemy’s emotion and knowledge to influence morale and energy.

It showed readers both the backstory of each woman and how they ultimately were called to serve, the major projects they oversaw during the war, the gender inequality they faced (particularly as it relates to promotion and recognition), and how they spent their time later in life - so I appreciated that we were able to get to know the women even outside of their military accomplishments.

The audiobook was incredibly engaging; there was a single narrator and she helped bring these women to life - without it feeling like we were lost in facts and dates.

PROPAGANDA GIRLS is out now!

I’ve read several books depicting women’s involvement in WWII but never one like this. The amazing attention to detail alone separates this one from the others . Obviously well researched and thoughtfully put together . Everyone lives changed in unfathomable ways during this period but this woman and others lived lives for these few years that no woman could have ever imagined. Some of it may be shocking and perhaps not for some of the younger audience but it’s real, was real, life for these women. A lifetime lived in a a few years as we read about intelligent, hard working dedicated women fight for their country (s) in creative ways ,traveling the world in dangerous situations all for very little money or recognition.Most men didn’t think they needed these women but obviously they were wrong.

3.25 stars

This book follows the stories of four women who worked on Propaganda during WWII in separate chapters, one for each of the women during four phases of their time working on propaganda.

Their stories were remarkable and very interesting, but I felt that in some circumstances the stories felt a little repetitive from woman to woman. I also got a bit confused remembering who was who every time I started a new chapter about a personI hadn't read about since their last chapter--three chapters ago!

I also felt that the format made it so that there wasn't an obvious central thesis. rather than just sharing information about these women and their work. It would have been more effective to either have a combined narrative of propaganda in the war and how women worked in it, with these woman used as recurring examples, or if it were divided into sections about each women which built on each other around some kind of thesis.

While I do recommend the book as an interesting source of information for anyone interested in this topic, it was not nearly as effective as other biographies I've read of groups of women. Something about it felt incomplete.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC for unbiased review.

“Propaganda Girls” is the true story of four women– much braver than I could ever be– who affected the outcome of the last 18 months of WWII. Using their brains, they devised ways of tricking Axis soldiers into surrendering. While I had never heard of three of these women, one name I knew immediately: Marlene Dietrich. I had no idea that Elizabeth MacDonald, Jane Smith-Hutton, Barbara Lauwers, and Marlene Dietrich were members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which later became known as the CIA.

Their boss, General “Wild Bill” Donovan, wanted to hire creative, quirky women. One of his best-known admonitions was, “If you think it will work, go ahead.” All four took him at his word.

The book is divided into four consecutive sections. Each section contains one chapter about each of the four women and the area of the world in which they were located during the war. The book was very easy to follow and difficult to put down.

Lisa Rogak has done a wonderful job of unearthing information about women who might otherwise have been lost to history. Although I’ve read several historical novels about women in this period, Propaganda Girls” has the added cachet of being true. The book is meticulously documented.

I greatly enjoyed “Propaganda Girls and highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy. This is my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book a ton!! It is told from the perspective of four women who served in the OSS during WWII. I personally enjoy this type of stories because I am a female veteran, and you don't not hear many women perspectives in war books. Reading these women's stories was very inspiring and makes me proud to see their contributions brought to light. Great book and I will be buying a physical copy this weekend for my other history loving book readers. This is not one to skip. Thanks NetGalley.

Lisa Rogak introduced me to a facet of history I had never heard of…Propaganda Girls. She introduces the reader to four different women - 3 are unknowns and the 4th is Marlene Dietrich. I found their stories to be fascinating. Each worked for the MO ( Morale Operations) division of the OSS ( Office of strategic Services). Rogak writes chapters about each one’s contributions to the war. I found their use of propaganda fascinating, especially in the case of Zuzka Lauwers. She truly changed the war by using information she gleaned from the interrogations she performed. I found her to be the most interesting of the four women - and agreed with the assessments of her peers that she definitely should have had a higher rank given all she was given to do and excelled at. I could feel her frustration being overlooked because of her gender.
Marlene Dietrich also fascinated me due to her immense dedication and joy she found in enduring horrible living conditions in order to perform for her boys.
I also found it fascinating that each of them felt most alive during the war years as well as that each of them lived a long fulfilled life.
I found this read to be very interesting and informative. Many thanks to Lisa Rogak, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this fascinating glimpse of a little known facet of history published on March 4th.
.

This book didn't appeal to me like I thought it would. I'm not totally certain why, either. It might be a matter of morality. Propaganda is a type of lying. I do perfectly understand why the US felt it was a necessary weapon against Germany and Japan, but I still can't totally accept it. It's nothing personal against the four women, but I wasn't left feeling what glorious jobs they did during the war. I wasn't left feeling proud of them and all they accomplished.

My problem started off in the beginning of the book, when one of the women was a newspaper reporter in Hawaii, and she encountered a child outside in back of a blown-up drugstore on her way to Pearl Harbor. A photographer was with her, and they saw a 5-year-old boy sitting all alone playing with a ribbon. He is smiling, not looking distressed at all, obviously in shock. The photographer tells her it won't be a believable picture if the child looks content and tells her to pinch him so he'll cry. She goes up to the child, speaks some kind words, and then pinches him hard. He screams out, tears flood his eyes, the photo is taken and is sold to "Life" magazine. She pats the child on the head and then leaves with the photographer to go to Pearl Harbor to cover the bombings. What sort of woman would do that? Cruelly pinch a traumatized small child all alone after a bomb hit, and then leave the child crying in the rubble?

The author didn't appear to think that was wrong, either. The woman was most dedicated to her job! Like all the women in this book. That bothered me. It's not that I think all women are obligated to be motherly, and I certainly don't think women should not be allowed to do the jobs men do. Plus, they definitely should be paid what men doing their jobs would be paid, as they unfairly were not during the war. I do realize, too, that the propaganda they created probably helped save countless lives. I don't know . . . I was glad when I reached the end of the book. Maybe I simply dislike war books, and dislike seeing women dragged into the wars that men create, where they sometimes behave like men with limited moral consciousness.

(Note: I received a free e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.)

Lisa Rogak (https://www.lisarogak.com) is the author of more than 25 books. Propaganda Girls was published a couple of days ago. It is the 16th book I completed reading in 2025.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! I categorize this book as G.

This book focuses on four women recruited into the OSS during WWII. Unlike most women who served in the OSS, these four were not in the field behind enemy lines. They were part of the Morale Operations branch. Contrary to what that name implies, their job was not to boost Allied morale. Their job was to develop and clandestinely distribute black propaganda - disinformation, lies, and rumors. Anything they could think of to diminish the enemy’s morale.

The four women were Betty McIntosh, Barbara “Zuzka” Lauwers, Janes Smith-Hutton, and Marlene Dietrich. One had a law degree, most had experience as reporters, and Dietrich was an experienced singer and actress. A brief biography of each woman is presented. A few projects are described, along with an analysis of their effectiveness.

I enjoyed the 5.5 hours I spent reading this 225-page WWII-era history. I have read much about the OSS. This was a story I had not come across before. I like the chosen cover art. I give this book a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

I absolutely loved this book. I loved learning about the women involved in the O.S.S., especially Marlena Dietrich. All of these women had an amazing impact on World War II. I learned so much about each woman's life and impact on the War. Thanks again to NetGalley and MacMillan for access to both the ebook and audriobook. #PropogandaGirls

This book is about four American women who worked for the OSS during WWII, making propaganda to share ideas about the war. One, Marlene Dietrich, was famous, but the others worked quietly. It has four parts: before the war, during the war, and after the war. The best part is the start, where it talks about why they joined and has cool descriptions of Pearl Harbor. Later, the story gets less exciting, even though they were busy (except Dietrich, who left more records). It mentions problems like low pay and harassment but doesn’t talk much about the bigger war or women’s roles. It ends too fast with Jane’s chapter and needs a better ending to wrap things up. WWII fans will like this simple, fun book.

I am generally one who does not read books about WW II. I can take only so many sinking ships and amazingly heroic army divisions. But this book is so different, I really liked it. Plus, it was about women playing a vital but generally unknown part in that war.

I found each of the four stories engaging with so many personal anecdotes. A Czech who became an American citizen and joined the Women's Army Corps. How Marlene got that name, renounced her German citizenship and played a musical saw. Jane being held in the US embassy in Tokyo for six and a half months. Betty's missteps being trained as a secret operative were sometimes humorous.

Rogak did a great deal of research to provide the personal stories included in this book. I think it would be of interest to readers who would like to know more about unusual WW II efforts like writing fake military commands, spreading rumors through the enemy military, writing pamphlets and much more. I recommend this very interesting book.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins for th opportunity to read Propaganda Girls by Lisa Rogak. Excellent. Painstakingly researched and presented in an interesting manner.