Sisters in the Resistance [Paperback]

Margaret Collins Weitz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471196983 | ISBN-13: 978-0471196983 | Publication Date: March 6, 1998

Critical acclaim for Sisters in the Resistance

"Often moving . . . always fascinating . . . women in the French Resistance is a key subject. Margaret Weitz has gathered personal testimonies . . . and set them in an intelligible context that helps us understand how all French people--men and women--experienced the Nazi occupation." --Robert Paxton, Mellon Professor of Social Sciences, Columbia University, and author of Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944.

"Compulsive reading . . . a valuable book which vividly portrays the intricacies of resistance within France, written in an easy but serious style." --Times Literary Supplement (London).

"An absolutely stunning and compelling chronicle of dauntless courage and unflagging patriotism." --Booklist.

"[Margaret Collins Weitz's] well-researched, thoughtful study. . . has filled a gap in the history of World War II." --Publishers Weekly.

"Balancing absorbing narrative and astute analysis, Margaret Collins Weitz has integrated the unsung achievements of women into the history of the French Resistance." --Carole Fink, Professor of History, The Ohio State University, and author of Marc Bloch: A Life in History.

"Fifty years after the end of World War II, Sisters in the Resistance renders homage to the courageous women of the French Resistance. It is high time for their contributions to be fully acknowledged, and fortunate indeed that they have found such a sympathetic, scholarly, and lucid chronicler in Margaret Collins Weitz." --Marilyn Yalom, author of Blood Sisters: The French Revolution in Women's Memory.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Both of these works join a growing body of literature on the French Resistance (see, for example, Claire Chevrillon's Code Name Christiane Clouet: A Woman in the French Resistance, LJ 5/1/95). Rougeyron's memoir, first published privately in 1947, recounts his experiences rescuing downed Allied airmen in France during the war years. An auto engineer and experimental race car driver before the war, he joined the Resistance after the Nazi occupation and organized a network of resisters who rescued, sheltered, and assisted British and American flyers. Rougeyron's memoir is translated by the wife of the first Allied airman whose escape he facilitated. In marked contrast to Rougeyron's personal story is Weitz's scholarly account, the first to research women's roles in the Resistance in a thorough and comprehensive way. In addition to utilizing the limited archival information available, Weitz (humanities and modern languages, Suffolk Univ.) has relied on interviews with more than 70 survivors of the Resistance, primarily women. Weitz places their dangerous and in many ways nontraditional activities against the backdrop of the Vichy regime's antifeminism and stresses the opportunities afforded by the Resistance for women both to change roles and to assume new roles in French society. She painstakingly demonstrates that women's presence in the Resistance was much greater than was believed or known at the time. Both works are recommended for specialists in the field.?Marie Marmo Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., N.J.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Weitz makes an important and unique contribution to the literature of the French Resistance and the history of World War II. Although countless studies have documented the heroic exploits of Resistance leaders during the course of World War II, few have focused on the pivotal role women played in the various underground organizations. Based on interviews with surviving resistants, this oral history contains the harrowing and often previously unrecorded testimony of a remarkable set of women. The author's sensitive narrative places these riveting anecdotes and reminiscences into proper historical and sociological context as she examines and analyzes the ever expanding duties and assignments undertaken by women as France's war-within-a-war continued to rage. An absolutely stunning and compelling chronicle of dauntless courage and unflagging patriotism. Margaret Flanagan --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 358 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (March 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471196983
• ISBN-13: 978-0471196983
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #531,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Stories of Women in the French Resistance, November 26, 2008

By 

Kathryn J. Atwood (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sisters in the Resistance (Paperback)

"Sisters in the Resistance" is a fascinating compilation of interviews and stories from women who were involved in the French Resistance during WWII. In fact, each story is so compelling, one wishes each subject had received a full-scale biography. But as that is not the case, at least these courageous women are given plenty of space to tell their stories in Weitz's book.

Many who lived through those times did not want to discuss their experiences with anyone afterwards (and some, especially those who were tortured by the Nazis, mention that they couldn't bear to hear the German language after the war), but they are all forthright within the pages of "Sisters" and their stories paint a vivid portrait of Nazi-occupied France.

Weitz gives the book an obvious feminist slant, which, depending on your perspective, could be favorable or un-, but if her portrayal of paternalistic Vichy France is to be believed (and I think it can be -- French women weren't granted suffrage until 1944), it more than justifies Weitz's slant and casts the activities of the females resistance fighters into a stark contrast with their environment.

Weitz has done an extremely valuable service in preserving the stories of these women who risked everything in order to follow their convictions and her book -- slanted or not -- is definitely a non-fiction page-turner.

18 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A great compilation of oral histories, but bad conclusions., March 17, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Provo, Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sisters in the Resistance (Paperback)

Excellent chapters on the behind the scenes aspect of the resistance, including social services, where women dominated the field. The book does not, however, include food riots and worker's strikes. These are two areas of resistance that women also participated in.

For the most part Weitz is willing to let her interviews speak for her, with informative results. Her own analysis and conclusions show feminist leanings, and are far from objective. The concluding chapter digresses into a barrage of stereotypes and gender comparison.

Still, if one ignores the author's own remarks and concentrates on the primary sources, this is a worthwhile book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars sisters in the resistence, December 6, 2008

By 

Susan A. Davis "confirmed reader" (allendale nj) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sisters in the Resistance (Paperback)

I love books about world war 2 and especially France. This was very good about giving us an idea of what the political sitition was like in france before the occupation. The individual stories were good but somwhere along the line i got tired of reading this book. But i would say i'm glad i read it.