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Start giftingThe Second Line of Defense
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreIn tracing the rise of the modern idea of the American “new woman,” Lynn Dumenil examines World War I’s surprising impact on women and, in turn, women’s impact on the war.
Telling the stories of a diverse group of women, including African Americans, dissidents, pacifists, reformers, and industrial workers, Dumenil analyzes both the roadblocks and opportunities they faced. She richly explores the ways in which women helped the United States mobilize for the largest military endeavor in the nation’s history. Dumenil shows how women activists staked their claim to loyal citizenship by framing their war work as home-front volunteers, overseas nurses, factory laborers, and support personnel as “the second line of defense.” But in assessing the impact of these contributions on traditional gender roles, Dumenil finds that portrayals of these new modern women did not always match with real and enduring change.
Extensively researched and drawing upon popular culture sources as well as archival material, The Second Line of Defense offers a comprehensive study of American women and war and frames them in the broader context of the social, cultural, and political history of the era.
Lynn Dumenil is a Robert Glass Cleland professor emerita of American history at Occidental College in California. She is the author of Freemasonry and American Culture, 1880–1930, among other books.
Susan Hanfield was a 2017 Audie Award finalist in the Young Adult category for The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough. Her work has also been recognized with a Voice Arts Awards nomination in 2016 and as an Audie Award finalist in 2015 and 2014. She has recorded approximately seventy titles thus far, and comes from a strong classical theater background, bringing deep characterizations to all of her work. Her audiobook titles span many genres, including young adult, historical fiction, faith-based inspirational, fantasy, paranormal romance, science fiction, classics, and nonfiction. In addition to recording audiobooks, she can be seen in film, on stage, and in commercials.
Reviews
“Narrator Susan Hanfield does a splendid job conveying WWI and the many women who made an immense impact on winning it. She skillfully employs an old-fashioned style for the quotes, and for the narrative she uses a contemporary delivery that enhances the descriptions of women ranging from nurses to telephone operators to prostitutes. The women who pushed against the limits society imposed on ‘the weaker sex’ include elites, suffragettes, pacifists, African Americans, and immigrants, all of whom have their say with distinction from Hanfield. Listeners will hear fascinating first-person accounts from women reveling in their new more exciting and challenging lives. The audio version is ideal for a book overflowing with names, dates, acronyms, and numerous notes of explanation.”
“This unique and previously unexplored view into a rarely examined history will be an excellent complement to Lettie Gavin’s American Women in World War I: They Also Served. Recommended for public and academic libraries.”
“An elegant writer and vivid storyteller, Lynn Dumenil brings to life the experiences of women during World War I…A great read!”
“Written with a storyteller’s ear for the lost voices of our nation’s past…Should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand the America we live in a century later.”
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