Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this powerful record, author and English professor Browder (Her Best Shot: Women and Guns in America) collects first-person accounts from dozens of military women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, accompanied by vivid full-color portraits. Contributors span age groups, conflicts and military branches, and a number of issues: why they joined, their thoughts on spirituality, issues confronting them upon their return home, the dual challenges of being a soldier and a mother, being female in a field dominated by men, and more. Poignant, tear-jerking stories dominate; Sergeant Deidre Coley, deployed in the Gulf, lost an injured colleague-"the baby in the group"-because the locals that Coley asked for directions would not speak to women. Each chapter clusters around a different theme, including saying goodbye to friends and family, coming home to face unexpected complications, dealing with natives and supporting the mission. Candid and touching, with resonant photographs from Pflaeging, these brief narratives give voice to a too-often-overlooked aspect of female American experience. (May) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
Review by Library Journal Review
With the strains placed on an all-volunteer force during an unpopular war and the shifting nature of modern warfare, women are being allowed more active roles than ever in America's armed forces. The official ban on women holding combat positions has been essentially unenforceable in Iraq and Afghanistan, where over 100 service women have been killed. Browder (English, Virginia Commonwealth Univ.; Her Best Shot: Women and Guns in America) and photographer Pflaeging here present the experiences of some of the service women returning from these combat zones by color portraits combined with their oral histories. Their project includes an exhibition of these portraits as large-scale prints, this accompanying book with 48 portraits, and a documentary film to come. Browder's introduction gives a historical and societal overview of women in combat, but the color portraits and oral histories take center stage. Initially, readers may be tempted to deify these women for their contributions to the continuing struggle for female equality, but their unflinching accounts unfold to a tangible and poignant humanity. VERDICT Recommended for adult readers, particularly those with an interest in women's studies or the history of Americans in combat.-Tessa L.H. Minchew, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Clarkston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
