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Title details for Wise Gals by Nathalia Holt - Available

Wise Gals

The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage

by Nathalia Holt
Erin Bennett
Audiobook
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls comes the never-before-told story of a small cadre of influential female spies in the precarious early days of the CIA—women who helped create the template for cutting-edge espionage (and blazed new paths for equality in the workplace) in the treacherous post-WWII era.
In the wake of World War II, four agents were critical in helping build a new organization that we now know as the CIA. Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier, called the “wise gals” by their male colleagues because of their sharp sense of humor and even quicker intelligence, were not the stereotypical femme fatale of spy novels. They were smart, courageous, and groundbreaking agents at the top of their class, instrumental in both developing innovative tools for intelligence gathering—and insisting (in their own unique ways) that they receive the credit and pay their expertise deserved.
     Throughout the Cold War era, each woman had a vital role to play on the international stage. Adelaide rose through the ranks, developing new cryptosystems that advanced how spies communicate with each other.  Mary worked overseas in Europe and Asia, building partnerships and allegiances that would last decades. Elizabeth would risk her life in the Middle East in order to gain intelligence on deadly Soviet weaponry. Eloise would wield influence on scientific and technical operations worldwide, ultimately exposing global terrorism threats. Through their friendship and shared sense of purpose, they rose to positions of power and were able to make real change in a traditionally “male, pale, and Yale” organization—but not without some tragic losses and real heartache along the way.   
     Meticulously researched and beautifully told, Holt uses firsthand interviews with past and present officials and declassified government documents to uncover the stories of these four inspirational women. Wise Gals sheds a light on the untold history of the women whose daring foreign intrigues, domestic persistence, and fighting spirit have been and continue to be instrumental to our country’s security.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 13, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593589656
      • File size: 331817 KB
      • Duration: 11:31:17

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 27, 2022
      Bestseller Holt (Rise of the Rocket Girls) profiles a quintet of pioneering female intelligence agents in this entertaining history. Drawing on diaries, scrapbooks, memos, letters, and recently declassified documents, Holt tracks Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, Elizabeth Sudmeier, and Jane Burrell from their WWII service and recruitment by the newly formed CIA through the early decades of the Cold War. Based in Munich, language expert Hutchison built a network of Ukrainian spies to try to penetrate Soviet intelligence; Sudmeier, who grew up on a reservation in South Dakota and “could pass for multiple ethnicities,” gathered information on Soviet influence in the Middle East; Hawkins, a divorced mom with three children, stayed stateside, where she helped design and implement new covert communications systems. Throughout, Holt highlights the sexism and misogyny these women endured (their efforts to organize for equal pay and recognition was derisively nicknamed the “Petticoat Panel”), weaves in intriguing details about microdot cameras and other spy tools, and draws colorful sketches of people and events including “Wild Bill” Donovan and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Though the story’s multiple threads get unwieldy at times, this is a revealing and vibrant look at the critical contributions women have made to the CIA. Photos.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Women regularly get short shrift in history books. This work seeks to fill in one gap, telling the stories of four remarkable women who helped shape the modern CIA. They all were intelligent and hardworking and not afraid to push for the credit and pay they deserved. Erin Bennett offers a solid narration. Her generally conversational tone carries listeners along effectively. But she also captures the excitement of some of the women's exploits and the frustration of not being treated as equals by their male counterparts. There are few extended quotes, so Bennett wisely doesn't give each woman a distinct voice. The women were ridiculed as "the wise gals" by their colleagues, but the women embraced the label and had the last laugh when their value became clear. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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