Women's Experiences of the Second World War

This edited collection of essays provides fascinating insights into women's experiences of war on a truly global scale. [...] Overall, the strengths of this edited volume are the range, diversity and richness of the case study material that is core to all twelve chapters. It is illuminating to read across the different contexts presented - from Māori women in New Zealand to Soviet female combatants. This gives the reader a refreshingly global perspective on women's experiences of war and counters the often geographically segmented histories (European, North American, South East Asian, Pacifc, and Antipodean, etc) upon which comparative gender history can be built. * CULTURAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY *
The chapters in this work are built on exciting primary sources, all of which highlight women's own voices. The authors draw on diaries and letters from missionaries and front-line soldiers, people displaced by conflict and those living under occupation, bringing together work covering a wide range of geography and age and different kinds of experience of the war. . . . [A] useful, readable starting point for addressing many aspects of women's lives during World War II. * Canadian Journal of History *
This is a wide-ranging collection of essays that highlights women's enormously varied wartime experiences. The essays are written by scholars from diverse academic backgrounds. The contributors use a variety of source materials including diaries, scrapbooks, letters and interviews. Several helpfully delve into the difficulties of using and interpreting their source materials. Diaries are sometimes written for personal fulfilment, but they can be written purposefully to bear witness for future generations. Discussing challenges in source material reminds readers about the interpretive nature of historical analysis but also about the changing interpretations that individuals give to their own lives. * WAR IN HISTORY *