Warrior Women in American History

Barred from fighting for their beliefs on the battlefield, though many tried, Southern women served the Confederacy in other ways, like through the timeless art of espionage. Confederate women used their wits, charm, and beauty to discover Union secrets and carry out covert operations for the war efforts. This insightful book highlights these little-discussed Confederate figures, including the famously persuasive Rose O'Neal. Readers will meet the Moon sisters, who used their acting skills to smuggle information and supplies under the noses of Union soldiers using all manner of disguises.

When the United States became involved in World War II in 1941, only men were allowed to join the Air Force to fly planes in combat. Two intrepid female pilots named Nancy Harkness Love and Jacqueline Cochran told the Air Force they believed that women aviators could help in other ways. In 1943, through their efforts, the Women Airforce Service Pilots was founded. This exciting book highlights a few of the more than one thousand female aviators who created and went through this program, including Love, Cochran, and Ann Baumgartner Carl, the first woman to fly an Air Force fighter jet.

The Civil War was the bloodiest conflict in American history, and although many were uncomfortable with the idea of women interacting with soldiers, there simply weren't enough male doctors to meet the needs of the wounded. Women in both the Union and the Confederacy helped fill that need, and in the doing so, changed the course of American medical history. This book tells the story of many of these brave women, including Dorothea Dix, an advocate for the mentally ill and the superintendent of army nurses for the Union, and Clara Barton, a self-taught nurse who founded the Red Cross.

At the time of the American Revolution, women were not given many opportunities to participate in life outside the home. As many men headed off to war, their wives, daughters, and mothers had to take on new roles. Some women disguised themselves as men and fought as soldiers, while others helped the American war effort through spying and gathering information. Still others wrote and published revolutionary propaganda or helped raise money for the new American army and government. With this fascinating book, readers will be introduced to women working in all different capacities in the war that made America.

The Vietnam War was one of the most controversial wars in American history, as many Americans opposed the United States' involvement in the war. The draft, which forced certain young men to fight in the war, even if they didn't want to, was particularly controversial. At the time, women were not allowed to fight in the military, but many worked directly in the conflict as nurses and administrators. Through fascinating and poignant interviews, this book tells the stories of six courageous women who served in the Vietnam War as they narrate their fascinating and sometimes difficult memories of the conflict.

Though women had been involved in war efforts in every conflict in American history, more women participated in the Gulf War than in any war before it. When the Gulf War began in 1990, women in the military were still not allowed to fight on the front lines, in positions that directly engaged the enemy, but the roles they held still proved challenging and dangerous. This engrossing book tells the stories of the women who fought bravely in the air, on land, at sea, and in enemy camps as prisoners of war, as well as honors those who gave their lives for their country.

Although spying has always been a part of warfare, espionage didn't become an official part of American war efforts until World War II. The United States government established the Office of Strategic Services, which employed spies, translators, map readers, and code breakers to help gather information. Many of these roles were filled by women. This compelling book tells the riveting stories of six of these lady spies, including singer Josephine Baker, who smuggled military secrets on her sheet music; model and countess Aline Griffith; and the dangerously effective "Limping Lady," Virginia Hall.

Although not able to fight on the front lines of the Civil War, many brave women worked behind the scenes, engaged in daring acts of espionage and concealment. On the Union side, these covert operatives included actress Pauline Cushman, and abolitionist Elizabeth Van Lew, who used her considerable resources to create and operate a spy ring. Readers learn of the famed Underground Railroad operator Harriet Tubman. This engaging book spotlights seven of these hidden forces behind the Union's victory in the Civil War whose often under-examined life stories will thrill Civil War and espionage buffs alike.