Nathalia Holt's "Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage" tells the untold story of four women who were instrumental in the early days of the CIA. These women were highly skilled and resourceful, and they played a vital role in some of the most important intelligence operations of the Cold War.

Holt focuses on the stories of four women in particular: Mary Kendricks, Eloise Page, Elizabeth Sudmeier, and Jane Burrell. These women came from different backgrounds and had different skills, but they all shared a passion for intelligence work and a commitment to serving their country.

Kendricks was a brilliant analyst who helped to develop the CIA's first intelligence operations in the Soviet Union. Page was a daring undercover agent who infiltrated communist networks in Europe. Sudmeier was a skilled cryptographer who broke Soviet codes. And Burrell was a pioneer in the field of human intelligence, who developed and ran networks of spies.

Holt's book is meticulously researched and beautifully written. She draws on extensive interviews with the women themselves, as well as their families and colleagues, to create a vivid and intimate portrait of their lives and work.

Holt also does an excellent job of explaining the historical context of the women's work. She shows how the Cold War created a new demand for female spies, and how the women who stepped up to meet that demand helped to shape the modern CIA.

Wise Gals is an important and timely book. It is a reminder of the contributions that women have made to intelligence work, and it is a celebration of the courage and ingenuity of these four remarkable women.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history, espionage, or the role of women in society. It is a fascinating and inspiring story.

Nathalia Holt, a New York Times bestselling author renowned for uncovering untold stories, delivers another gem with Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage. Diving into the hidden history of the CIA's early days, the book introduces readers to four extraordinary women—Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier—who defied societal norms to play pivotal roles in the Agency's formation and operations.

These aren't your average femme fatales from spy novels or the stereotypical honey traps that normally come to mind when you think about female spies. No, these women are intellectual powerhouses with nerves of steel. Their remarkable stories span from World War II through the Cold War era, touching on ongoing international crises. In what was described as a "male, pale, and Yale" dominated workspace, Adelaide's cryptographic genius, Mary's diplomatic skills, Elizabeth's daring field intelligence, and Eloise's groundbreaking scientific contributions all shine through.

What sets this book apart is Holt's meticulous research, evident on every page. Drawing from first-hand interviews and declassified documents, Holt doesn't give readers a James Bond-esque narrative but instead offers a grounded account of these women's determination and significant contributions. This includes crucial roles in predicting the Soviet Union's early development of atomic capabilities and intelligence gathering that contributed to the Cuban missile crisis.

However, the book doesn't shy away from the grim realities these extraordinary women faced, particularly their battles for equal pay and recognition in a notoriously misogynistic environment. A poignant example is Jane Burrell, another key figure who has yet to receive a star on the CIA's Memorial Wall—an oversight that Holt brings into focus.

Wise Gals serves as a significant addition to both historical non-fiction and discussions about the challenges and triumphs of women in the workforce. Reading it leaves you with a complicated mix of pride for these women's achievements and frustration at the societal barriers they had to fight. It’s a fight many continue to this day. While the book may not offer high-octane thrills, it provides a long-overdue homage to these unsung heroines of American history. Whether you're interested in untold stories of women instrumental to our country's security or simply a well-crafted narrative, this book is an excellent read.

A huge thank you to the author Nathalia Holt not only for an advanced copy of this book, but for shedding light on these crucial but long-overlooked narratives. And thank you to the publisher Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.

As always, I encourage you to read this one for yourself and formulate your own opinion.

Wise Gals by Nathalia Holt was an interesting informational read about the first women to work for the CIA. The book follows the lives and careers of four women who started working for the CIA during its initial years and their struggles to be taken seriously in a male dominated field. I found their stories extremely interesting and inspiring—they contributed so much to the building of the intelligence community while not being taken seriously by most of their colleagues. These women definitely worked for the betterment of their country, regardless of not being treated equally. I love that these women’s stories are finally being told!

Women spies? Yes please. I enjoyed every minute learning about these women and the role they played in the CIA from WWII through the cold war.. It was a fascinating read yet sad how little recognition they received.

“Wise Gals" by Nathalia Holt is a remarkable and empowering book that sheds light on the incredible achievements of women who have been overlooked by history. With meticulous research and compelling storytelling, Holt brings to life the stories of unsung heroines from diverse backgrounds and fields as they work in military espionage and were present on the ground floor of the creation of the CIA. This book is a celebration of wisdom, resilience, and the transformative power of female contributions.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley & G.P. Putnam's Sons for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

As an outsider to government secrets, one can only dream that the novel technology in “Mission: Impossible” and stealth tactics in “The Bourne Identity” have been invented in the real world. However, coded messages, microdot cameras, and double agents are just some of the fascinating aspects of U.S. government intelligence uncovered in Nathalia Holt’s “Wise Gals.”
Unlike many popular films, Holt’s fourth novel centers on women involved in the CIA, jumping leaps and bounds beyond any spy movie franchise. “Wise Gals” tells the story of five real women — Jane Burrell, Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page and Elizabeth Sudmeier — who each played a fundamental role in directing the CIA into its modern line of intelligence.
One of the most exciting elements of the novel is the feeling that readers are gaining access to government secrets. Unlike the objective voice of the typical history textbook, “Wise Gals” makes readers live and breathe in moments of the past. Readers hold their bated breath while waiting to see if the USSR will strike from Cuba and fidget in their seats while thinking about whether the vital covert operations occurring in the Middle East will be uncovered. Using maps, the author helps readers triangulate where the key women are, allowing for a better contextualization of the story.
Inevitably, the uncovering of government secrets instigates the question of truth in the present moment. While learning about covert operations to overthrow governments, readers must consider if everything they read and see on the news day-to-day is the whole truth. These internal considerations add new depths to the novel, making history feel relevant in the present moment.
Breaking through the tension, Holt’s witty humor and quick jabs at the “male, pale, and Yale” organization give necessary breaks in the midst of high stress moments. Through reliving history, the novel gives viewers a glimpse into the Post World War II era that defined America’s powerful presence in the modern day.
Rather than focus on one character at a time, the novel relies on a linear timeline so that readers can understand the significance of each smaller development in the context of the bigger picture. Furthermore, Holt incorporates various images of clandestine technology, honors awarded to the Wise Gals, and the women's personal lives collected from archives into the novel as a way to ground readers’ imaginations.
Through these stories, readers learn more about how women were vital to the development of U.S. strategy during a precarious time period. For instance, had it not been for Sudmeier’s ability to spectacularly blend into the Baghdad community and foster strong connections with the military wives, the CIA would not have uncovered enough intelligence about the Soviet plans for expansion. The novel also sheds light on the bureaucratic hurdles these women faced in taking on leadership roles and fighting for the rights of other women.
However, in its attempts to be defined as a feminist novel, “Wise Gals” does not pass the test. The novel does not have a primary focus on uplifting women in relation to each other, instead centering on the women’s individual accomplishments. Eschewing opportunities to learn more about the Petticoat Panel and how the “wise gals” may have been able to impact and uplift each other, Holt chooses to focus on moments of generational clash and the difficulties of fitting in.

This was great!! I am normally not a non fiction reader. This subject drew me in and didn't let go. It is equally historical and a fascinating look into female power.

Wise Gals is a fascinating and painstakingly researched history of the women of the OSS and, later, the CIA. Ms. Holt details the stories of these agents’ lives of espionage and service while detailing their struggle for equality within the agency. It’s a fascinating look at how a core group of female agents impacted the future of the CIA and, ultimately, the history of our nation.

Wise Gals is impressive in its scope, spanning from the 1930s to the 1980s, and telling the stories of four groundbreaking women. Due to the nature of these women’s work, it is necessary to quickly recap major world events. At times, the narrative becomes lost in details of complex situations like the Cuban Missile Crisis or the Iraqi Revolution. At times, the author tends to refer to players who are never again referenced or to end a paragraph with a thread of foreshadowing that seems a little too neatly tied. In all, this was a very enjoyable and informative work that I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys 20th century history, stories of boot-on-the-ground second wave feminists, or stories of espionage.

A fascinating dive into the spies who played an integral role in building the CIA in its early days. It's a shame their stories are unknown, as so many women during this period have not received credit for the harrowing work. Worth the read if you're a history buff, into true crime stories or a champion of women's stories.

This is a very cool idea but reads more like a series of profiles at times than a coherent story. The writing is at times a little rushed or imprecise, and the book has little sense of critique for systems as a whole. There is a built in critique of misogyny and sexism in the CIA, but perhaps we should question whether the CIA should even exist. This is a girl power book with plenty of cool stories and glorifies its heroes.

I would recommend this book to anyone that has a particular interest in real life spy stories. In that sense, it is a strong corrective to a masculine driven genre.

Wise Gals tells the nonfiction history of the women who helped build the CIA. Holt completed extensive research on America’s intelligence agency during WWII, the OSS, and the group’s eventual restructuring as the CIA. The careers of several women were outlined in the book. Still, Holt’s focus was on Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier, and it covers events during WWII through the 1970s. The book explores themes of inequality, misogyny, and sexism.

I was very excited about this read as I thoroughly enjoy historical nonfiction. Unfortunately, the book did not deliver enough substance for me to rate this a 5/5. Holt notes that information about these women was confidential and challenging to piece together. This is understandable, and she fills in the gaps with important information about the current events of the time. In my opinion, the pinnacle of the book is the Petticoat Panel, when many women in the CIA banded together to fight for equal rights. After the committee was disbanded and the women’s requests were ignored, the book solely followed the careers of the four women, and it was only at the end of the book that Holt emphasized the inequities faced by women in the CIA and how some strides have been made in recent years.

Overall, this was a fascinating read. I enjoyed learning about the women and their careers. Holt included pictures and maps. I had trouble remembering who was who—I much prefer a paper copy over a Kindle as I have trouble finding the information I need in a Kindle (personal problem, I know). However, I felt the book needed a bit more direction.

Thank you to NetGalley and G. P. Putnam’s Sons for the ARC!

A fascinating read about the women who were an integral and vital part of the US war effort during WWII and the days after, particularly in building the CIA. Spies, of course, can't tell their stories and even after the time period has ended when some of their exploits and contributions can be made public, women have usually been overlooked. Women made up about 40% of the CIA in the 1950s.
That is shocking. This book is part of the effort to put that right. One of the most fascinating parts of this was that the women gathered together to try to force the CIA to give them equal pay as men, particularly when they were doing as much, and often more, than their male counterparts were doing. It is easy reading and exciting as well.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved getting to see women in a more prominent role especially when it comes to the spy networks. We know that women were very prominent throughout WWII in helping win the war, but until recently we haven't heard their stories. This book does a great job of telling Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier stories both in their personal lives and in their work lives. We see how they were not given as much grace as the men and how they had to put their personal lives on hold or just plain not have relationships or children because if they did they would be forced to retire unless the husbands were also in the CIA. All of the hard work that the Wise Gals did is amazing, especially with how hard they had to fight for every little thing and to prove their worth. I loved reading how different their methods of interrogation were and how they actually ended up working better, how they created spy networks in crafty ways, and how they got information about people by just doing simple things and befriending people. It's truly an amazing thing to see how they did all of this without any help from higher-ups and basically fully on their own for the most part after certain people left/retired.

Overall I loved this non-fiction book and how easy it was to read. While it does provide a ton of information it didn't feel like a textbook or overwhelming at all, because we were just learning about these women's lives, and being able to place a name and a face on something makes it much more enjoyable and easy to read in my opinion when it comes to non-fiction.

How much do you know about the early years of the Central Inelegance Agency? How much have you read about its predecessors - the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the Central Intelligence Group (CIG)? If the answer to either question is not much, Wise Gals will help fill in gaps in your knowledge.
 
Nathalia Holt in Wise Gals opens with a coterie of women - Addy Hawkins, Liz Sudmeier, Mary Hutchison, Jane Burrell, and Eloise Page - working with others on the Petticoat Commission in November 1953. This commission was compiling facts and data regarding the inequities in job titles and especially pay between women and men at the CIA. After this opening, Wise Gals digs into a changing cast of women who were initially part of the OSS during World War II and stayed on to deal with the new reality of the developing Cold War. There were double agents who they need to bring in, new contacts to develop, and leads to follow. Holt divided the book into five sections subdivided into chapters. Each chapter is titled with an operation name, date, and then the name of the "wise gal" who is the main focus of the chapter. Operations ranged from 1940's Ukrainian dissidents to Iraq Revolution in 1950's to Sputnik to the specs for MIG-19 to U-2/Gary Powers fiasco to the Bay of Pigs disaster in 1960's.  
 
The women Holt writes about in Wise Gals have all died so their stories can be told while those "wise gals" still surviving will get their time to shine when they are gone. It is amazing who is known from the CIA versus who actually did the work of making the CIA as functional as it is. Read Wise Gals and celebrate their triumphs and mourn their losses!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Wise Gals. I loved this book! This is a fabulous telling of such an important part of our history. Ms. Holy was meticulous in her research of the amazing women who built The Agency.

It is not as common for me to pick up a history book or historical fiction - it’s simply not my usual go-to genre. However, this book is one I would pick up again and again.

I liked this book for sharing a story that is not usually told. I enjoyed learning about women’s role in history and in the CIA, and getting to learn more about each woman’s life and her role. I had never heard of any of these women previously, and had no idea of their involvement in the CIA.

Holt does a great job highlighting each woman, her life, and her role with the CIA. It also wasn’t the typical dry history book that has usually turned me off from the genre. It was more compelling and Holt really takes you into the life of these women, that it doesn’t feel like you’re reading history.

If you like history or historical fiction, this is definitely a great book for you. However, if you are like me, and this isn’t your natural go-to genre, I still believe this is a great one to dip your toe into. I’m sure glad I did, and I will be on the lookout for future works from Holt because of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Son’s for the advanced review copy.

Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage contains a wealth of information, presented in such a way that is fascinating and often surprising. To say that for many, many years the achievements of these women were overlooked, their ideas uncredited and their potential untapped would be an understatement. Although attractive, none of the women in the book are notorious sexy femme fatales, so their names don’t even rate a second thought. Until you read this book. Just a highlight of what they did was amazing: developed new cryptosystems that advanced how spies communicate with each other, built overseas partnerships and allegiances that would last decades, gathered intelligence on deadly Soviet weaponry, participated in scientific and technical operations worldwide, exposed global terrorism threats. Although they did attain powerful, influential positions and were able to effect change, it wasn’t easy. They made sacrifices and paid a price for their unconventional choices. One of the original Wise Gals, Jane Burrell, paid with her life.

Strides have definitely been made through the years but women today still face barriers when trying to earn respect and influence in traditionally male fields. Imagine trying to make your mark or convince all the skeptical men that your idea has merit, that you can do the job as well or even better, in the post-WWII era. Women made huge contributions during the war, but when the war was over the women were for the most part expected to go back where they came from – as nurses, teachers, housewives – and give the important jobs back to the men so things could get back to normal. It is a testament to their tenacity, dedication, yes, stubbornness and their amazing intelligence and brilliance that they persevered and had the successes they did. And it’s only through the meticulous research and efforts of authors like Nathalia Holt that we are now able to learn about these monumental achievements and the women behind them.

Wise Gals is excellent reading, so well laid out that it takes the reader smoothly from woman to woman and historical event to historical event making you understand what motivates and frustrates these women, makes clear all the obstacles they faced, and leaves you feeling you know them quite well.

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing a copy of Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage in exchange for my honest review. I spent my time going back and forth between amazement and awe with what these women accomplished and irritation with what they had to put up with to achieve it, but at no time did I want to stop reading. It’s a fascinating history of the CIA and of those who helped create it. I highly recommend it. All opinions are my own.

Wise Gals tells the story of Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier. These four women, among others, were pioneers in the OSS and the fledgling CIA, and respected superiors during the Cold War. They fought for their country, and fought long and hard to break barriers for women in the agency, and each was a hero in her own right.

This nonfiction book featuring the stories of these incredible women is beautifully written, and exciting in all the ways a spy thriller might be. No less than how these women should be remembered!

4.5/5

Highly readable and engaging, #WiseGals tracks the origins of the CIA and the formerly hidden role women played in its creation. Immersive in the post war era, fascinating and rich with cinematic detail it is perfect for those interested in women centered history, origins of the Cold War, or spy work in general. For readers who enjoy personality driven nonfiction that reads with great detail this will be a treat. Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this title.

Review Wife Gals is truly one of the best books on women in American Intelligence that I've read. Learning how pivotal women were at the forefront from intelligence gathering to creating spy craft gear was illuminating. The struggles these groundbreaking women made impacted women in government and to put a name and face to some of them is wonderful.

As a woman who has worked in government and knows how hard it is for my colleagues in the intelligence field to make headway into the upper echelons now it is so important to be reminded of the shoulders they stand upon. It also reiterates that though decades have passed women in government still have an uphill battle for full equity in our fields especially when it comes to being paid what is deserved based on our credentials and experience.

This book along with other works by authors like Dr. Janina Ramirez who rips the covers back on women in medieval history are what we need more of. Books that show the true impact of women in our history and how we impacted our societal evolution which has been glossed over so much through the centuries. Can't wait to see what Dr. Holt writes about next. I'm so glad that I received an ARC to give this wonderful book a review.