Code Girls

This is a completely riveting book about a part of WWII history that, for a long time, went undiscussed. Liza Mundy does a fantastic job in conveying the skill and the integrity in the women who held these extremely important jobs. She also does a great job in showing us the lives of these women before, during, and after the war, and how policies of the time robbed them of the recognition they deserved–and often, kept them from pursuing careers using the skills they developed in the war.

Liza Mundy also managed to do something really impressive, in that she had me on the edge of my seat, absolutely riveted, at events that I know extremely well. I am a WWII historian, so the “how this happened” stuff is old hat to me. Yet by shedding light on the behind-the-scenes efforts that went on to break ciphers and codes that were integral to the war, she has added an entirely new perspective on the war effort during events like D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan. It's thoroughly fascinating material.