Sisters in Arms

Description

Sisters in Arms charts the evolution of women in combat, from the Scythian warriors who inspired the Amazonian myth, to the passing soldiers and sailors of the eighteenth century, and on to the re-emergence of women as official members of the armed forces in the twentieth century.

Author Julie Wheelwright traces our fascination with these forgotten heroines, using their own words, including official documents, diaries, letters and memoirs, to bring their experiences vividly to life. She examines their contemporary legacy and the current role of women in the armed forces, while calling into question the enduring relationship between masculinity and combat.

Julie Wheelwright

Dr Julie Wheelwright is a senior lecturer in the English department at City, University of London. She is the author of Amazons and Military Maids, The Fatal Lover: Mata Hari and the Myth of Women in Espionage, and a biography of her ancestor who was taken captive by indigenous people in 18th-century Maine, Esther: The Remarkable True Story of Esther Wheelwright. A former print and broadcast journalist whose career included producing and contributing to documentaries for BBC radio and television, Channel 4, and the History Channel in Canada, she has written widely on women in the intelligence services and in the military.

Find out more about this book by watching Julie Wheelwright’s talk that she gave as part of the Chawton House Lockdown Literary Festival here.