Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS. . - Professional Reader - book review

Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, Jan-March, 2003 by Katherine R. Coviello

Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS, by Elizabeth P. McIntosh (Dell Publishing Company, reprint March 9, 1999, originally published in hardcover by US Naval Institute Press in May 1998), 368 pages, $6.50.

By documenting many tales of the courage and exploits of dozens of women of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), author Elizabeth P. McIntosh adeptly educates the reader on the history of the OSS while simultaneously telling of the women who pioneered the modern intelligence era. Herself a veteran of the OSS during World War II and then its protege, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), McIntosh more than aptly handles this subject. Her intimate knowledge of many of the OSS officers and operations lends credibility to her expertise in the field, yet she carefully restrains from any obvious bias throughout her discourse in Sisterhood of Spies, the Women of the OSS.

In Sisterhood of Spies, Mcintosh recounts the tales and exploits of women in the OSS, followed by a brief synopsis of their continuance into the modern intelligence community. With this effort she successfully provides the reader with the sense of purpose and excitement felt by these women. Entering the OSS during a time in which the U.S. was entrenched in a world war, these women served in all of the war's many theaters of operation. Casting aside political differences, societal class standing, and education status, these women played key roles in ensuring the success of OSS operations worldwide. Ms. McIntosh begins the book by introducing General William "Wild Bill" Donovan's OSS ends it by addressing women's roles in the modern intelligence community, McIntosh also suggests the importance of the women of the OSS as pioneers. Additionally, she provides many details of the prejudices and adversity the women of the OSS encountered during their tours of duty.

Throughout the twenty accounts of the women of OSS, McIntosh provides evidence of the significant role they played. She relies heavily on interviews, diaries, and existing literature to develop chronicles of each of these women. She further describes how each of them entered the OSS, their role in OSS operations, and their subsequent lives following the termination of the OSS after the war. McIntosh's writing style is narrative in nature and reads like a good spy story; it would be easy to believe that many of the tales were fiction if they were not documented as otherwise. Where appropriate, McIntosh provides personal accounts of her interface with these OSS women, imparting personal details that might otherwise have been overlooked. She is careful not to inundate the reader with personal accounts though most add a great deal to the publication. As evidenced by her vast collection of notes and extensive bibliography, McIntosh went to great effort to ensure her documentation was both accurate and well support ed. Ms. McIntosh's in-depth research and personal experiences allow her success in telling the story of the women of the OSS. Never, during the course of reading the book, will readers find themselves wondering what the rest of the story is about; each tale is that fully presented. This same strength also presents itself as a potential weakness, however. So intent is McIntosh on conveying the atmosphere of the time, that readers may find themselves bored with the details of the societal aspects of these women. It seems, after awhile, as if there is a focus beyond what the women accomplished -- more on whom they married and what role in society they played after the war. Readers must try to remember that the vast majority of the women in the OSS came from the upper crust of society and that such details mattered to them, as they apparently did to McIntosh. Needless to say, the book would not have lost anything if such details were omitted.

Like so many books regarding the period, Sisterhood of Spies belies a pride in what the U.S. and the OSS accomplished during the time. While rightly deserved, at times the book appears unbalanced as it shows little criticism of the OSS women's efforts. Nonetheless, on the whole the book stands as an authoritative and substantive chronicle of the early contributions of women to the U.S. intelligence community. It is well worth the reading.

Katherine R. Coviello is employed by the U.S. Army Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate, Fort Monmouth, NJ. She can be reached at katherine.Coviello@us.army.mil.