Wed, Jan 31
|Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse
Liza Mundy, The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA
Global Santa Fe and Collected Works Present an evening of conversation with Liza Mundy and Ian Dunn. The acclaimed author of Code Girls returns with a history of three generations at the CIA, about the women who fought to become operatives, transformed spycraft, and tracked down Osama bin Laden.
Date, Time & Location
Jan 31, 2024, 6:00 PM MST
Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse, 202 Galisteo St, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
About the Event
This event is co-sponsored by Global Santa Fe. Liz Mundy will be in conversation with Global Santa Fe's Board Member, Ian F. Dunn and will take place in-store and will be livestreamed to Zoom, register here for Zoom.
Order your copy of The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA ($32.50, hardcover) online from CW here or call the store to order (505) 988-4226.
“This masterful book cements Liza Mundy as one of our foremost historians.”—Kate Moore, bestselling author of The Radium Girls
A FOREIGN POLICY AND SMITHSONIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Drawing on hundreds of interviews with key players, many of whom have never before gone on the record, including current CIA employees, Mundy reveals a portrait of a workplace hampered by bias and male ego and yet an agency populated by three generations of intrepid women who found creative ways to work within – and expand – the confines of the roles to which they were funneled for decades: from the women, beginning in the 1940s and 50s, who built the CIA’s critical archives, wrote cables, and maintained their colleagues secrets; those who fought blatant sexism and unfair bias in the 1970s and 80s to become operatives—often using their invisibility and second-class status to their advantage; to the women who transformed spy craft by spearheading the modern era of data analysis to combat increasingly cunning international terrorism, and tracked down Osama Bin Laden.
An over-due investigation of the role women have played in American intelligence since the founding of the Central Intelligence Agency, THE SISTERHOOD also exposes how persistent institutional sexism in the intelligence community at times hindered U.S. national security. Sexism, Mundy provocatively shows, played a distinct role in how unprepared America was before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Just as she did so winningly in Code Girls, Mundy’s flair for storytelling brings these women’s rich personalities and incredible accomplishments to vivid life. THE SISTERHOOD takes us to far-flung stations, dangerous cover operations, and inside the windowless depths of Langley, to uncover the stories of women and their hidden contributions to CIA history. THE SISTERHOOD offers a riveting new perspective on history, revealing how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age, and how their silencing made the world more dangerous.
About the Author
Liza Mundy is an award-winning journalist and the New York Times bestselling author of four books, including Code Girls. A former staff writer for The Washington Post, Mundy writes for The Atlantic, Politico, and Smithsonian Magazine, among other publications.
About Global Santa Fe
Global Santa Fe is an education-based non-profit that ignites dialogue around critical world issues and currents moving the modern world. Their three interconnected program areas: Dialogue & Diplomacy, which includes their Under Fire series, Cultural/Professional Exchange with international visitors, and inspiring Student Education and Travel Exploring, empowers their members, educators, students and communities to be more informed and engaged.