A Quiet Courage: The story of SOE's women agents in France by Liane Jones (Corgi Books, 1990).
Out of print, may be available through libraries and specialist bookshops.
An account of the activities of English women sent to help organise the French resistance.

Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks (HarperCollins, 2000) £7.99
As a cryptographer, Marks became head of communications at SOE. This witty and engaging memoir relates the courageous determination he witnessed through his close relationships with several female agents.

British Intelligence in the Second World War by F H Hinsley (The Stationery Office Books, 1994) £17.50
Considered to be the official historian of British Intelligence in World War II, Professor Hinsley was given unlimited access to Government records in order to write this account of the role British Intelligence played throughout Europe. This is the abridged version of his five-volume classic.

Carve her name with pride by R J Minney (Newnes, 1956). Out of print but may be available through libraries.
The story of Violette Szabo, who was parachuted into France and eventually captured and shot in Ravensbruck concentration camp.

Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks (Vintage, 1999) £6.99
Fictional tale of a Scottish Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent in the service of the French resistance, whose second, personal mission is to find an RAF pilot who has not returned from an operation.

Churchill and Secret Service by David Stafford (Abacus, 2000) £10.99
Churchill's fascination with code-breaking and espionage is captured in this detailed account of the rejuvenation of the British Intelligence services under his leadership.

Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan (Madelaine) by Jean Overton Fuller (East-West Publications, 1988) £5.95
A biography of one of the best-known SOE agents, whose heroism was recognised posthumously with the George Cross and the Croix de Guerre.

Nancy Wake: The inspiring story of one of the War's greatest heroines by Peter Fitzsimons (HarperCollins, 2002) £7.99
A portrait of one of World War II's most decorated women agents.

Secret Agent: The true story of the Special Operations Executive by David Stafford (BBC Books, 2000) £16.99
Stafford focuses particularly on the criticisms and political skirmishes that hampered SOE's creation, but also relates its successes through first-person accounts from agents.

The German Penetration of SOE by Jean Overton Fuller (George Mann Books, 1996) £9.95
During her research into the disappearance of an agent, Overton Fuller exposed several government investigations and subsequent whitewashes. This fascinating work expounds the idea that British incompetence led to the deaths of many of their own secret agents.

The Life of Violette Szabo by Susan Ottoway (Pen & Sword Books/Leo Cooper, February 2002) £19.95
A well-researched biography of Szabo who volunteered for the SOE. After being parachuted into Nazi-occupied France, she was captured by the Germans, tortured and killed in Ravensbruck concentration camp, aged only 23.

The Secret History of SOE: Special Operations Executive 1940-1945 by William Mackenzie (St Ermin's Press, 2000) £30
This highly classified official war history of SOE was commissioned by the Cabinet Office after the war and was only declassified in 1998.

The White Mouse by Nancy Wake (Macmillan, 1997) £19.99
In this vivid account of her own experiences in the SOE, Wake confirms a personality summed up well by a fellow resistance fighter, Henri Tardivat: 'She is the most feminine woman I know, until the fighting starts. Then she is like five men.'

Undercover by Patrick Howarth (Phoenix Press, 2000) £9.99
As a member of SOE, Howarth wrote these accounts of SOE's agents and their trials, in order that their stories should not be forgotten as a result of the destruction of records after the war.

Britain at War: Women's war by Martin Parsons (Hodder Wayland, 2000) £4.99
Explains how women's roles in war changed and the types of jobs they took on.

Carve Her Name With Pride (Lewis Gilbert 1958)
A tragic and heroic story in which a London shopgirl, whose French officer husband is killed in action. She enlists as a British agent and is captured by the Germans. Based on the true story of Violette Szabo.

Special Operations Executive
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWsoe.htm
This site offers short outlines of each of the 39 female SOE operatives in France.

Nancy Wake: The White Mouse
www.nzedge.com/heroes/wake.html
A profile of the New Zealand agent Nancy Wake as well as links to further resources, including an audio interview with her biographer Peter Fitzsimons.

The Violette Szabo Museum
www.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/foyer.htm
A tribute to Violette Szabo, the British secret agent who was executed at Ravensbruck in 1945.

The Princess Who Would Be Spy – WWII SOE Agent
www.the-south-asian.com/Sept2001/Noor%20Inayat%20Khan1.htm
Photographs and a history of Noor Inayat Khan, emphasising her Indian history.

SOE Action in France
http://members.aol.com/HLarroque/sgbindex.htm
Provides a breakdown of the teams and logistics behind the operations.

Creating GI Jane by Leisa D Meyer (Columbia University Press, 1998) £15.50
A wonderfully compiled collection of arguments for and against women's presence in the military throughout history.

No Woman's World by Iris Carpenter (Boston Houghton Mifflin, 1946). Out of print, but may be available through libraries or specialist bookshops.
As a journalist, Carpenter was allowed to travel with the 1st Army and reported the war in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany. She was also present at the liberation of Buchenwald and Dachau.

Sisters in the Resistance: How women fought to free France, 1940-1945 by Margaret Collins Weitz (John Wiley & Sons, 1998) £12.95
Through interviews with women resistance fighters, Weitz succeeds in bringing women's courageous actions in the war to the forefront of history.

The Women Who Wrote the War by Nancy Caldwell Sorel (HarperCollins, 2000). US edition only, available through online bookshops.
Sorel tells stories and anecdotes of famous female war reporters and behind-the-scenes wire operators.

Twentieth Century Women of Courage by Beryl E Escott (Sutton Publishing, 1999) £19.99
Squadron Leader Beryl Escott has collected stories of hundreds of courageous acts committed by women throughout the 20th century.

War and Gender: How gender shapes the war system and vice versa by Joshua S Goldstein (Cambridge University Press, 2001) £30
An intriguing analysis where the exclusion of women in war is examined and the surprising conclusion is made that killing in war does not come 'naturally' to either men or women.

Women and War by Jean Bethke Elshtain (University of Chicago Press, 1995) £11
Elshtain pulls apart the gender constructs of both genders and their roles in war.

World War II Allied Women's Services by Martin Brayley (Osprey, 2001) £8.99
A comprehensive reference for all the women's services, their mission statements and uniforms.

Women in the Military in World War II
http://userpages.aug.com/ captbarb/femvets5.html
A brief history of the service of women in US military organisations during World War II, despite the fact that they were denied full military status.

Women in World War Two
www.historylearningsite.co.uk/women_WW2.htm
A good outline of the vital work women performed in wartime.

First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
www.fany.org.uk
Gives the history of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), the only all-women uniformed voluntary group in the UK, created in 1907.

Women Spies in War
http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/spies.html
A history of female spies from the American War of Independence to World War II.

Women's Roles in World War II
http://womenshistory.about.com/ cs/warwwii/index.htm
A comprehensive gateway site for articles and information on women in World War II.

The WRAF – Women in the Blue
www.raf.mod.uk/history%5Fold/wraf.html
The history of the Women's Royal Air Force from its inception at the tail end of the First World War.

Women's Royal Voluntary Service
www.wrvs.org.uk/standard.aspx?page_id=43
Official website of the organisation that started in 1938 and continues today to involve women in community work.

Imperial War Museum
Lambeth Road
London SE1 6HZ
Tel: 020 7416 5320
Website: www.iwm.org.uk
The Secret War permanent exhibit provides an insight into the work of the Special Operatives Executive through film footage and items of espionage equipment, including radios, codebooks and devices for sabotage. You can also search the interactive videos for agent and operation files.