The women who wrote the war

James Boylan

Those who believe the pioneering generation of women journalists did not arrive until the 1970s should read this rich account of the band who covered World War II, often in the face of opposition by colleagues and by the military, and frequently at heavy cost to their personal lives.
— Columbia Journalism Review

Library Journal

Sorel, a freelance journalist who writes regularly for Esquire and the Atlantic, has assembled an impressive amount of biographical information about the women reporters who covered World War II. Though numbering fewer than 100, these women were extremely dedicated to overcoming the bias of their employers, who often felt that the front was no place for a woman, and of the military itself. The stories of these women reporters--e.g., Lee Miller, Martha Gelhorn--are at once inspiring, frustrating, and sad, and most are certainly worth knowing. The book, however, is more anecdotal than analytical. Important questions, such as whether these women reported the war differently from their male counterparts, is not treated systematically. In addition, the place of women in the history of news needs greater context. Still, as a journalistic account of an often neglected story, it is recommended for public libraries.--Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

M.G. Lord

In The Women Who Wrote the War, Nancy Caldwell Sorel has dug up and lovingly polished the spellbinding personal stories of women journalists in World War II.
—Voice Literary Supplement

Washington Times

Hunger for books about World War II is never satisfied. Give his to your daughter or to anyone who doesn't see women as ambitious and tough as men.

Kirkus Reviews

A worthwhile, impressively researched history of the women correspondents who chronicled WWII. Sorel (co-author, with Edward Sorel, of First Encounters: Meetings with Memorable People, 1994) tells the trail-blazing stories of some two dozen women journalists who covered US military operations during WWII. Although these women faced the same dangerous conditions as their male counterparts, they also confronted the military's patronizing attitudes about women. In one memorable wartime example, General George Patton delivered an expletive-laden lecture to his staff officers, interspersing his tirade with sheepish apologies to the "lady" reporters in the back. Much of the book describes the resourcefulness of these women in circumventing the military's endless restrictions. Marguerite Higgins bent the rules to become the first reporter to detail the sickening horrors of Dachau, arriving at the camp within minutes of its liberation. "Dickey" Chapelle covered the carnage on Iwo Jima, getting shot at by the enemy and reprimanded by the US military. Martha Gellhorn had an especially rocky war, covering events in Europe and Asia with her philandering husband, Ernest Hemingway. Despite the risks, these woman forced their way to the front lines. Catherine Coyne's account of being at ground zero while Nazi bombers attacked a bridge is simply unforgettable. Janet Flanner, the famous "Genêt" of the New Yorker, brilliantly depicts the liberation of Paris. Sorel has a gargantuan task in attempting to capture the experiences of so many different women in so many different places, from North Africa to China to Normandy. At moments, her wide-ranging narrative suffers from a lack of depth. Thefamously tempestuous relationship between Gellhorn and Hemingway, for example, is described only briefly, as is Lee Miller's friendship with Pablo Picasso. Any one of these fearless women could be the subject of an entire book. An ambitious and entertaining examination of a neglected side of American military history: the war within a war waged by women journalists. (b&w photos, not seen)