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Article Excerpt
Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001. 304 pp. Appendices, bibliography, index. $29.95 (cloth) ISBN 0-7006-1145-2.
A True Adventure
To refer to Reina Pennington's book as a "true adventure" in no way detracts from its academic merit or historiographical value. It is a true adventure in the style of the boys adventure books, which dominated for generations. It is a true adventure insofar as through its pages it elevates us from our mundane lives to the larger than life exploits of individuals who pressed the boundaries of human endeavor. Like so many other books it traces the adventures and sacrifices of those who took to the sky in defense of their homeland during World War II. Dissimilar to all but a very isolated few, this true adventure features heroes who just happened to be women.
Pennington opens her adventure with a short background on the tradition in Russia of strong combative women. She observes that perhaps more than in any other country this tradition has been evident. Ancient burial sites dating back to the 4th or 3rd centuries were found to contain women buried with weapons. During WWI 2,000 women were recruited and volunteered for the "Battalion of Death." Whilst the stated purpose of the battalion was to "serve as an example to the army and lead the men into battle ... to shame the men in the trenches by having the women go over the top first," (p. 5) by July 1917 the Battalion of Death was involved in front line combat and suffered heavy casualties. Russian women also gained pilot's licenses from 1911 and several managed to participate during WWI as reconnaissance pilots. As Russia embraced socialism so it decreed capitalism, the class structure and gender discrimination, alien to the state. Between the wars universal military service involved women as well as men. Unfortunately, as the nation fell into the depths...
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More articles from Minerva: Quarterly Report on Women and the Military
The Women Who Wrote the War.(Book Review), March 22, 2002
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