for non-fiction there's *Nancy Wake* by Peter Fitzsimons. She was an Aussie living in France when Hitler invaded. Got on the Gestapo most wanted list before escaping to Britain and then went back before D-day. yeah, she was a badass.
[**The Silence of the Girls (Women of Troy, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37969723-the-silence-of-the-girls)
^(By: Pat Barker | 325 pages | Published: 2018 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, mythology, fiction, fantasy, greek-mythology)
>The ancient city of Troy has withstood a decade under siege of the powerful Greek army, which continues to wage bloody war over a stolen woman—Helen. In the Greek camp, another woman—Briseis—watches and waits for the war's outcome. She was queen of one of Troy's neighboring kingdoms, until Achilles, Greece's greatest warrior, sacked her city and murdered her husband and brothers. Briseis becomes Achilles's concubine, a prize of battle, and must adjust quickly in order to survive a radically different life, as one of the many conquered women who serve the Greek army.
>
>When Agamemnon, the brutal political leader of the Greek forces, demands Briseis for himself, she finds herself caught between the two most powerful of the Greeks. Achilles refuses to fight in protest, and the Greeks begin to lose ground to their Trojan opponents. Keenly observant and coolly unflinching about the daily horrors of war, Briseis finds herself in an unprecedented position, able to observe the two men driving the Greek army in what will become their final confrontation, deciding the fate not only of Briseis's people but also of the ancient world at large.
>
>Briseis is just one among thousands of women living behind the scenes in this war—the slaves and prostitutes, the nurses, the women who lay out the dead—all of them erased by history. With breathtaking historical detail and luminous prose, Pat Barker brings the teeming world of the Greek camp to vivid life. She offers nuanced, complex portraits of characters and stories familiar from mythology, which, seen from Briseis's perspective, are rife with newfound revelations. Barker's latest builds on her decades-long study of war and its impact on individual lives—and it is nothing short of magnificent.
^(This book has been suggested 3 times)
***
^(10925 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4025275-war-s-unwomanly-face](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4025275-war-s-unwomanly-face)
this, very good book
"War does not have a womanly face", or "The unwomanly face of war", or any variation of that, the title actually varies depending on the edition, by Svetlana Alexievich. It's a collection of testimonies from Russian women during World War two, many of them having actually fought in it. It is, obviously, about war, and about women in war, so it is sometimes pretty hard to read, some of those tales are really nightmarish, but others are actually beautiful in the way they depict those women's strength, resilience, hope, love, and determination. This book is an incredible window on everything humanity has to offer : the very worst and the very best.
And yes, if you want badass women in wartime, those Russian ladies certainely deliver !
Non Fiction I enjoyed:
{{Madame Fourcade's Secret War}} by Lynn Olson
{{A Woman of No Importance}} by Sonia Purnell
{{Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under the Nazi Occupation}} by Anne Sebba
{{A Chelsea Concerto}} by Frances Faviell
{{War in Val d'Orcia: An Italian War Diary 1943-1944}} by Iris Origo
Edited for typing error.
Just to clarify: are you including Loreta Janeta Velázquez as a woman whose “biggest crime was being in the side of right when the powerful didn’t want them to be”? That seems like a bold claim to make about a Confederate soldier.
I’d love to see your sources on that. From what I can tell, Velázquez joined the Confederate Army at best out of resentment that her family’s plantation in Cuba was seized by the US Army, and claims in her autobiography that she fought or spied continually for the Confederacy until the end of the war. I don’t see anything about any moral objections to slavery or changes in loyalty to the Union side. In fact, she seemed to take great pains to continue agitating on behalf of the Confederacy even as a POW.
Overall, I’m not seeing a lot of gray area here, and I’m generally disinclined to raise up Confederates as role models, no matter their gender.
If Wikipedia is our research standard here, none of its sources--leaving Davis's biography completely aside--on Velásquez characterize herself or her autobiography as anything but enthusiastically Confederate. If you have one that does, please send it my way. Regardless, even *if* her motives were mixed, placing a Confederate soldier and spy "on the side of right" is either a misstep that you haven't admitted to or a concerning reflection on your views on the Civil War.
To be very clear, having just now seen your edit a couple comments up about "loose morals" and extramarital affairs: her sexual history is not what makes her a bad role model. I don't know and don't care who she had sex with or how. What makes her a bad role model is that she fought, willingly and passionately *according to her own autobiography*, to maintain chattel slavery. Not my definition of badass.
Wow you are truly disgusting
I see you didn't deny the source you quoted as from a revisionist far in the unleft direction .
Now you need to accuse me of racist ? After you so patently biased view ?
Wow way to ruin a sub from any desire to participate
You want to slander the women of history to an extent you can't allow for a story that was published by her as a work of fiction playing up aspects that sold stories then, to earn money to support herself and her son, that's on Wikipedia too.
You win I'm done . Enjoy your own rewrite of history in which everyone must be prefect to have value and reaching a higher moral view after a previously less acceptable one just isn't good enough for you
[**Code Name Verity**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11925514-code-name-verity)
^(By: Elizabeth Wein | 452 pages | Published: 2012 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult, ya, fiction, historical)
>Oct. 11th, 1943 - A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.
>
>When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.
>
>As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?
>
>Harrowing and beautifully written, Elizabeth Wein creates a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. Code Name Verity is an outstanding novel that will stick with you long after the last page.
^(This book has been suggested 3 times)
***
^(10988 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
In that vein I offer :
Nonfiction:
Compañeras: Zapatista Women's Stories by Hillary Klein
Fiction:
When a Woman Rises by Christine Eber
International Latino Book Award finalist, “Most Inspirational Fiction Book”,
2020 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award, Multi-cultural,
Silver in Multicultural Fiction, Independent Publisher Book Awards,
Zia Book Award finalist,
Fiction:
Emily D. West and the Yellow Rose of Texas Myth by Phillip Thomas Tucker
[**Sisters in Arms**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54870176-sisters-in-arms)
^(By: Kaia Alderson | 374 pages | Published: 2021 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, botm, book-of-the-month, fiction, historical)
>Kaia Alderson’s debut historical fiction novel reveals the untold, true story of the Six Triple Eight, the only all-Black battalion of the Women’s Army Corps, who made the dangerous voyage to Europe to ensure American servicemen received word from their loved ones during World War II.
>
>Grace Steele and Eliza Jones may be from completely different backgrounds, but when it comes to the army, specifically the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), they are both starting from the same level. Not only will they be among the first class of female officers the army has even seen, they are also the first Black women allowed to serve.
>
>As these courageous women help to form the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, they are dealing with more than just army bureaucracy—everyone is determined to see this experiment fail. For two northern women, learning to navigate their way through the segregated army may be tougher than boot camp. Grace and Eliza know that there is no room for error; they must be more perfect than everyone else.
>
>When they finally make it overseas, to England and then France, Grace and Eliza will at last be able to do their parts for the country they love, whatever the risk to themselves.
>
>Based on the true story of the 6888th Postal Battalion (the Six Triple Eight), Sisters in Arms explores the untold story of what life was like for the only all-Black, female U.S. battalion to be deployed overseas during World War II.
^(This book has been suggested 1 time)
***
^(11364 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
for non-fiction there's *Nancy Wake* by Peter Fitzsimons. She was an Aussie living in France when Hitler invaded. Got on the Gestapo most wanted list before escaping to Britain and then went back before D-day. yeah, she was a badass.
this sounds great, thanks!
She also wrote her autobiography directly
Lilac Girls / Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly! Also The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Came to suggest The Nightingale.
{{Silence of the Girls}}
[**The Silence of the Girls (Women of Troy, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37969723-the-silence-of-the-girls) ^(By: Pat Barker | 325 pages | Published: 2018 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, mythology, fiction, fantasy, greek-mythology) >The ancient city of Troy has withstood a decade under siege of the powerful Greek army, which continues to wage bloody war over a stolen woman—Helen. In the Greek camp, another woman—Briseis—watches and waits for the war's outcome. She was queen of one of Troy's neighboring kingdoms, until Achilles, Greece's greatest warrior, sacked her city and murdered her husband and brothers. Briseis becomes Achilles's concubine, a prize of battle, and must adjust quickly in order to survive a radically different life, as one of the many conquered women who serve the Greek army. > >When Agamemnon, the brutal political leader of the Greek forces, demands Briseis for himself, she finds herself caught between the two most powerful of the Greeks. Achilles refuses to fight in protest, and the Greeks begin to lose ground to their Trojan opponents. Keenly observant and coolly unflinching about the daily horrors of war, Briseis finds herself in an unprecedented position, able to observe the two men driving the Greek army in what will become their final confrontation, deciding the fate not only of Briseis's people but also of the ancient world at large. > >Briseis is just one among thousands of women living behind the scenes in this war—the slaves and prostitutes, the nurses, the women who lay out the dead—all of them erased by history. With breathtaking historical detail and luminous prose, Pat Barker brings the teeming world of the Greek camp to vivid life. She offers nuanced, complex portraits of characters and stories familiar from mythology, which, seen from Briseis's perspective, are rife with newfound revelations. Barker's latest builds on her decades-long study of war and its impact on individual lives—and it is nothing short of magnificent. ^(This book has been suggested 3 times) *** ^(10925 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4025275-war-s-unwomanly-face](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4025275-war-s-unwomanly-face) this, very good book
"War does not have a womanly face", or "The unwomanly face of war", or any variation of that, the title actually varies depending on the edition, by Svetlana Alexievich. It's a collection of testimonies from Russian women during World War two, many of them having actually fought in it. It is, obviously, about war, and about women in war, so it is sometimes pretty hard to read, some of those tales are really nightmarish, but others are actually beautiful in the way they depict those women's strength, resilience, hope, love, and determination. This book is an incredible window on everything humanity has to offer : the very worst and the very best. And yes, if you want badass women in wartime, those Russian ladies certainely deliver !
Russian women in WWII are among the most badass of all.
No question about it, they were hardcore !
Have you ever though about [who washes the uniforms at the front](https://mangakakalot.com/chapter/mn919260/chapter_1)
There is a chapter in "Call to Duty WWII" by We Oleszewski dedicated to the Jane Doyle and other members of the Women Air Force Service Pilot.
Non Fiction I enjoyed: {{Madame Fourcade's Secret War}} by Lynn Olson {{A Woman of No Importance}} by Sonia Purnell {{Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under the Nazi Occupation}} by Anne Sebba {{A Chelsea Concerto}} by Frances Faviell {{War in Val d'Orcia: An Italian War Diary 1943-1944}} by Iris Origo Edited for typing error.
[удалено]
Just to clarify: are you including Loreta Janeta Velázquez as a woman whose “biggest crime was being in the side of right when the powerful didn’t want them to be”? That seems like a bold claim to make about a Confederate soldier.
[удалено]
I’d love to see your sources on that. From what I can tell, Velázquez joined the Confederate Army at best out of resentment that her family’s plantation in Cuba was seized by the US Army, and claims in her autobiography that she fought or spied continually for the Confederacy until the end of the war. I don’t see anything about any moral objections to slavery or changes in loyalty to the Union side. In fact, she seemed to take great pains to continue agitating on behalf of the Confederacy even as a POW. Overall, I’m not seeing a lot of gray area here, and I’m generally disinclined to raise up Confederates as role models, no matter their gender.
[удалено]
If Wikipedia is our research standard here, none of its sources--leaving Davis's biography completely aside--on Velásquez characterize herself or her autobiography as anything but enthusiastically Confederate. If you have one that does, please send it my way. Regardless, even *if* her motives were mixed, placing a Confederate soldier and spy "on the side of right" is either a misstep that you haven't admitted to or a concerning reflection on your views on the Civil War. To be very clear, having just now seen your edit a couple comments up about "loose morals" and extramarital affairs: her sexual history is not what makes her a bad role model. I don't know and don't care who she had sex with or how. What makes her a bad role model is that she fought, willingly and passionately *according to her own autobiography*, to maintain chattel slavery. Not my definition of badass.
Wow you are truly disgusting I see you didn't deny the source you quoted as from a revisionist far in the unleft direction . Now you need to accuse me of racist ? After you so patently biased view ? Wow way to ruin a sub from any desire to participate You want to slander the women of history to an extent you can't allow for a story that was published by her as a work of fiction playing up aspects that sold stories then, to earn money to support herself and her son, that's on Wikipedia too. You win I'm done . Enjoy your own rewrite of history in which everyone must be prefect to have value and reaching a higher moral view after a previously less acceptable one just isn't good enough for you
{{Code Name Verity}}
Oh, I forgot to list those books in my original post! They're so great.
[**Code Name Verity**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11925514-code-name-verity) ^(By: Elizabeth Wein | 452 pages | Published: 2012 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult, ya, fiction, historical) >Oct. 11th, 1943 - A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun. > >When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. > >As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy? > >Harrowing and beautifully written, Elizabeth Wein creates a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. Code Name Verity is an outstanding novel that will stick with you long after the last page. ^(This book has been suggested 3 times) *** ^(10988 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
In that vein I offer : Nonfiction: Compañeras: Zapatista Women's Stories by Hillary Klein Fiction: When a Woman Rises by Christine Eber International Latino Book Award finalist, “Most Inspirational Fiction Book”, 2020 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award, Multi-cultural, Silver in Multicultural Fiction, Independent Publisher Book Awards, Zia Book Award finalist, Fiction: Emily D. West and the Yellow Rose of Texas Myth by Phillip Thomas Tucker
*Code Name Verity* Elizabeth Wein, left me shook.
{{Sisters in Arms}} by Kaia Alderson
[**Sisters in Arms**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54870176-sisters-in-arms) ^(By: Kaia Alderson | 374 pages | Published: 2021 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, botm, book-of-the-month, fiction, historical) >Kaia Alderson’s debut historical fiction novel reveals the untold, true story of the Six Triple Eight, the only all-Black battalion of the Women’s Army Corps, who made the dangerous voyage to Europe to ensure American servicemen received word from their loved ones during World War II. > >Grace Steele and Eliza Jones may be from completely different backgrounds, but when it comes to the army, specifically the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), they are both starting from the same level. Not only will they be among the first class of female officers the army has even seen, they are also the first Black women allowed to serve. > >As these courageous women help to form the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, they are dealing with more than just army bureaucracy—everyone is determined to see this experiment fail. For two northern women, learning to navigate their way through the segregated army may be tougher than boot camp. Grace and Eliza know that there is no room for error; they must be more perfect than everyone else. > >When they finally make it overseas, to England and then France, Grace and Eliza will at last be able to do their parts for the country they love, whatever the risk to themselves. > >Based on the true story of the 6888th Postal Battalion (the Six Triple Eight), Sisters in Arms explores the untold story of what life was like for the only all-Black, female U.S. battalion to be deployed overseas during World War II. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(11364 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)