Hitler’s Furies by Wendy LowerĪ sinister and darkly compelling book about the women of the Third Reich. This tale is one of ttragedy, friendship, but most importantly hope. The story of three women intertwine to make a beautiful fictitious story taking the reader from the dazzling lights of New York City to the depravity of Ravensbrück concentration camp. In a world where no one knows who they can trust or who is on their side, the main character, Isabella Berotti, fights for what she believes is right. This story of intrigue, power struggles and murder is set in pre-war Italy against a backdrop of rising fascism and Mussolini’s increasing power. A story of friendship, determination and survival. It was the only train to take women of the resistance to a death camp. The true story of 230 French women resisters who, in January 1943, were deported in convoy 31000 from Paris to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The reader learns about their lives and follows them through their last few hours.

The tragic story of Andrée Borrel, Diana Rowden, Vera Leigh and Sonia Olschanezky of the Special Operations Executive who were executed at Natzweiler concentration camp in July 1944. Support The Big Issue and our vendors by signing up for a subscription. Lockdowns have taken income away from hundreds of Big Issue sellers. Here, for International Women’s Day, she gives us her top 5 books on women in wartime. In her new book, Mission France: The True History of the Women of SOE, Dr Vigurs interweaves the stories of all thirty-nine female agents for the first time, tracing their journeys from early recruitment to work undertaken in the field.

While some are widely known, others have had their stories largely overlooked. More than four hundred agents were sent to France, including thirty-nine women. For her PhD, Historian Dr Kate Vigurs studied the women agents of the Special Operations Executive, a secret British organisation formed to coordinate resistance work overseas during World War 2.

A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead