The Sisterhood

The Secret History of Women at the CIA

Liza Mundy

$49.99

Paperback

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English

HISTORY PRESS
01 June 2025

History; 21st century history: from c 2000 -; Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000; Afghan War; Gender studies: women; Espionage & secret services

Created in the aftermath of World War II, the Central Intelligence Agency relied on women even as it attempted to channel their talents and keep them down. Women sent cables, made dead drops, and maintained the agency's secrets. Despite discrimination even because of it women who started as clerks, secretaries, or unpaid spouses rose to become some of the CIA's shrewdest operatives.

They were unlikely spies and that's exactly what made them perfect for the role. Because women were seen as unimportant, pioneering female intelligence officers moved unnoticed around Bonn, Geneva, and Moscow, stealing secrets from under the noses of their KGB adversaries. Back at headquarters, women built the CIA's critical archives first by hand, then by computer. And they noticed things that the men at the top didn't see. As the CIA faced an identity crisis after the Cold War, it was a close-knit network of female analysts who spotted the rising threat of al-Qaeda though their warnings were repeatedly brushed aside.

After the 9/11 attacks, more women joined the agency as a new job, targeter, came to prominence. They showed that data analysis would be crucial to the post-9/11 national security landscape an eff ort that culminated spectacularly in the CIA's successful eff ort to track down bin Laden in his Pakistani compound.

Propelled by the same meticulous reporting and vivid storytelling that infused Code Girls, The Sisterhood offers a riveting new perspective on history, revealing how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age, and how their silencing made the world more dangerous.

AUTHOR: Liza Mundy has written four books, including the New York Times bestseller Code Girls: the Untold Story of the American Women Codebreakers of World War II. A senior fellow at New America, a non-partisan thinktank, Mundy has written for The Atlantic, Politico and the NYT and has appeared on many radio and TV shows including The Today Show, Good Morning America and NPR's All Things Considered.

49 b/w illustrations

By: Liza Mundy
Imprint: HISTORY PRESS
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781803998343
ISBN 10: 1803998342
Pages: 480
Publication Date: 01 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

LIZA MUNDY has written four books, including the New York Times bestseller Code Girls: the Untold Story of the American Women Codebreakers of World War II. A senior fellow at New America, a non-partisan thinktank, Mundy has written for The Atlantic, Politico and the NYT and has appeared on many radio and TV shows including The Today Show, Good Morning America and NPR's All Things Considered.

Reviews for The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA

'The Sisterhood is a rip-roaring read about spycraft and the CIA’s inner workings that rewrites and enlarges the history of America’s iconic intelligence service. Mundy’s indefatigable reporting has unearthed an inspiring group portrait of extraordinary CIA women whose careers are multi-sided profiles in courage. They put their lives on the line in public service while navigating appalling sexism at the office—and gradually changed the CIA for the better.' – Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars 'Liza Mundy has given us an indispensable history, untold until now, of the rise of women at the CIA—and how their hard-fought ascension to power from lowly clerks to the top of the chain of command shaped America's national security. The Sisterhood has stellar reporting, sparkling writing, and shocking revelations of power struggles inside the world’s most famous secret intelligence service. —Tim Weiner, National Book Award-winning author of Legacy of Ashes This masterful book cements Liza Mundy as one of our foremost historians. It’s an absolute epic. Ignore this book – and these astonishing women – at your peril. -- Kate Moore * bestselling author of The Radium Girls * A must-read for anyone interested in national security, secrets, and the CIA. — Annie Jacobsen, bestselling author of Surprise, Kill, Vanish A vivid, compelling, and important book. – Kirkus Reviews