Liza Mundy

The award-winning New York Times bestseller about the American women who secretly served as codebreakers during World War II--a "prodigiously researched and engrossing" (New York Times) book that "shines a light on a hidden chapter of American history" (Denver Post). Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.

The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II

Code Girls

In the tradition of Hidden Figures and The Girls of Atomic City, Code Girls is the astonishing, untold story of the young American women who cracked key Axis codes, helping to secure Allied victory and revolutionizing the field of cryptanalysis. Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.

The acclaimed author of Code Girls returns with a “rip-roaring” (Steve Coll), “staggeringly well-researched” (The New York Times) history of three generations at the CIA, “electric with revelations” (Booklist) about the women who fought to become operatives, transformed spycraft, and tracked down Osama bin Laden. “This masterful book cements Liza Mundy as one of our foremost historians.”—Kate Moore, bestselling author of The Radium Girls A FOREIGN POLICY AND SMITHSONIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Created in the aftermath of World War II, the Central Intelligence Agency relied on women even as it attempted to channel their talents and keep them down. Women sent cables, made dead drops, and maintained the agency’s secrets. Despite discrimination—even because of it—women who started as clerks, secretaries, or unpaid spouses rose to become some of the CIA’s shrewdest operatives. They were unlikely spies—and that’s exactly what made them perfect for the role. Because women were seen as unimportant, pioneering female intelligence officers moved unnoticed around Bonn, Geneva, and Moscow, stealing secrets from under the noses of their KGB adversaries. Back at headquarters, women built the CIA’s critical archives—first by hand, then by computer. And they noticed things that the men at the top didn’t see. As the CIA faced an identity crisis after the Cold War, it was a close-knit network of female analysts who spotted the rising threat of al-Qaeda—though their warnings were repeatedly brushed aside. After the 9/11 attacks, more women joined the agency as a new job, targeter, came to prominence. They showed that data analysis would be crucial to the post-9/11 national security landscape—an effort that culminated spectacularly in the CIA’s successful effort to track down bin Laden in his Pakistani compound. Propelled by the same meticulous reporting and vivid storytelling that infused Code Girls, The Sisterhood offers a riveting new perspective on history, revealing how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age, and how their silencing made the world more dangerous.

The Secret History of Women at the CIA

The Sisterhood

Washington Post writer Liza Mundy paints a revealing and intimate portrait of the most dynamic couple in politics today: Michelle, the highly organized, sometimes intimidating, list-making pragmatist; and Barack, the introspective political charmer who sh

A Biography

Michelle

THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF CODE GIRLS RETURNS WITH A REVELATORY HISTORY OF THREE GENERATIONS AT THE CIA – THE WOMEN WHO FOUGHT TO BECOME OPERATIVES, T RANSFORMED SPYCRAFT, AND TRACKED DOWN OSAMA BIN LADEN. Created in the aftermath of World War II, the Central Intelligence Agency relied on women even as it attempted to channel their talents and keep them down. Women sent cables, made dead drops, and maintained the agency's secrets. Despite discrimination – even because of it – women who started as clerks, secretaries, or unpaid spouses rose to become some of the CIA's shrewdest operatives. They were unlikely spies – and that's exactly what made them perfect for the role. Because women were seen as unimportant, pioneering female intelligence officers moved unnoticed around Bonn, Geneva, and Moscow, stealing secrets from under the noses of their KGB adversaries. Back at headquarters, women built the CIA's critical archives – first by hand, then by computer. And they noticed things that the men at the top didn't see. As the CIA faced an identity crisis after the Cold War, it was a close-knit network of female analysts who spotted the rising threat of al-Qaeda – though their warnings were repeatedly brushed aside. After the 9/11 attacks, more women joined the agency as a new job, targeter, came to prominence. They showed that data analysis would be crucial to the post-9/11 national security landscape – an eff ort that culminated spectacularly in the CIA's successful eff ort to track down bin Laden in his Pakistani compound. Propelled by the same meticulous reporting and vivid storytelling that infused Code Girls, The Sisterhood offers a riveting new perspective on history, revealing how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age, and how their silencing made the world more dangerous.

Skyrocketing infertility rates and the accompanying explosion in reproductive technology are revolutionizing the American family and changing the way we think about parenthood, childbirth, and life itself. In this work of investigative reporting, journalist Mundy captures the human narratives, as well as the science, behind what is today a controversial, multibillion-dollar industry, and examines how the huge social experiment that is assisted reproduction is transforming our most basic relationships and even our destiny as a species.--From publisher description.

how assisted reproduction is changing men, women, and the world

Everything conceivable

Analyzing a growing trend in higher-earning working women, an anecdotal report predicts that more households will be supported by women within a generation, sharing stories about families already headed by women and how the dynamic will impact relationships.

How the New Majority of Female Breadwinners Is Transforming Sex, Love and Family

The Richer Sex

Michelle Obama

It will be a deeply reported book tracing Michelle's life from her beginnings to now. She was every parent's dream, skipping second grade because of her smarts, going on to Princeton and then Harvard Law School. The book will describe the South side of Chicago where the Robinson family grew up, Michelle's parents (her father had MS and worked for the city of Chicago, her mother stayed home), the hard-working culture of the Robinson family, Michelle's experience on the racially-tense campus of Princeton in the early 80s, her success at Harvard, how she experienced the death of her father and best friend, how she met Obama, the kind of partnership they have created, the kind of career as a lawyer and health care executive she pursued in Chicago, her views about political life and her aptitude for it, and her profile as a mother. The book will be based on the public record, on interviews she has given in the past, and on fresh interviews with her and members of her circle.

Liza Mundy

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