Kathryn J. Atwood

A well organised, interesting, easy read about some of the women involved in the resistance during the war who I've read about recently. An older book and I agree that this would be young adult. I kept getting drawn back to it, thinking about the decisions these women made to put themselves in such danger for a cause they believed in. Would I do it?

Women Heroes of World War I: 16 Remarkable Resisters. Soldiers. Spies and Medics by Kathryn J. Atwood is a gem of women’s history. The author’s writing style is plain and straight forward but it is the content that is outstanding!

The author starts out with explaining some of the differences between WWI and WWII. WWI came to be partly because of a surge of nationalism and desire to grab territory not so much for humanitarian goals. I have read a lot about the role of women in WWII but I show more did not know that women poured in to fill the jobs for males as they did for WWII. These stories are real but they have an unbelievable quality to them. It is amazing to learn about women did for their countries, they were spies under very dangerous conditions and created innovations, and even fought for their country on the battlefield.

This book is divided into sections for the different roles that women played during WWI : “Resisters and Spies”, Medical Personnel”, “Soldiers” and Journalists”. All were heroes. They risked their lives repeatedly to save lives. The execution of Edith Cavell, a very brave British nurse by German firing squad led to a political storm against Germany. One of the spies in this book, transported the private messages from the captured by having them written in lemon juice on her petticoat. When she got to the other side, the information was distributed to all the relatives of the captured. Elsie Inglis, a Scottish woman surgeon, she came up with the idea of a mobile hospital unit manned by women. Olive King, a daring Australian woman bought her own truck to use as ambulance. Those are just tidbits from a few of the chapters.

At the end of each chapter, the author has listed “places to learn more”, usually books about the woman in the chapter. I am going through them to find books on my favorite women! I am recommending this book to two of my close friends so I definitely recommend this book to all women and men who want to learn more about the special ways that women were heroes in the WWI.

I received this book from the publisher as a win from FirstReads but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in my review. show less

I was gifted a copy of Courageous Women of the Vietnam War by Kathryn Atwood & Diane Carlson Evans by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about these women, some I was aware of their exploits, and others were new to me. The author splits the book into five sections: from 1945 until 1975 and introduces readers to these exemplary women of the times, and following the natural events and history of Vietnam during those thirty years. All in all, the show more authors told the stories of thirteen special women who made personal sacrifices during those years. They were medics & nurses, Vietnamese patriots and revolutionists, journalists - one a POW for 23-days by the NVA, a singer, and a survivor of a napalm attack; each was extremely passionate in their beliefs and actions. It's not only a great historical overview of Vietnam, but it also shows how these thirteen women impacted that part of history and/or the war effort. Well worth the read and highly recommended. show less

Most of the time when I read about war, I tend to read fictional accounts of WWII. But, sadly, war is war and no matter what timeframe you are reading about there will be horrific details and stories of heroic people who risked their lives to help others. Atwood's research shows that women were definitely prominent in saving the lives of numerous people during war-time and not just in a hospital or in the home. Numerous women took on the role of spies and resisters helping to hide soldiers show more or to move information across enemy lines to leak details of plans like to blow up the British tunnel. I think most people would be quite surprised at the level of danger many of these women put themselves in, much like their husbands, brothers, and fathers.

Atwood covers each woman in a chapter consisting of just a few pages, telling the story of how she got involved in the war, her heroic deeds, and what happened to her after the war. Sadly, many of the women were arrested and sentenced to life in prison or to death. In fact, due to one of the women featured in the book, Edith Cavell, death sentences for women were no longer ordered. Her execution was remembered as one of inspiration for women because Cavell took her duties seriously and faced death with a "calm dignity". Stories like this were tragic but also proved that women, much like men, were willing to fight for their freedoms.

This book sat on my shelf too long and I am so glad that I finally read it. It is definitely an inspiring look at history and the role women played in unexpected areas. Many of them could be an inspiration for a fictional novel based on the war. Since each chapter stands alone, it is a great book to keep in the car and read while waiting in the pick-up line at school or at the doctor's office.

This book like her others about women heroes are written for middle school readers on up. Even though they are considered a young adult series, adults will appreciate the history and facts as well. show less