The acclaimed author of Code Girls returns with a “staggeringly well-researched” and “suspenseful” (New York Times) history of three generations at the CIA that is “electric with revelations” (Booklist) about the women who fought to become operatives, transformed spycraft, and tracked down Osama bin Laden.

“This masterful book cements Liza Mundy as one of our foremost historians.”—Kate Moore, bestselling author of The Radium Girls

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Pick

A FOREIGN POLICY AND SMITHSONIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

They were unlikely spies—and that’s exactly what made them perfect for the role. Created in the aftermath of World War II, the Central Intelligence Agency relied on women even as it attempted to channel their talents and limit their ambitions. Pioneering female intelligence officers moved unnoticed around Bonn, Tripoli, and Moscow. Back at headquarters, women built the agency’s critical archives, first by hand, then by computer. And they noticed things that the men at the top didn’t see, including the rise of Al Qaeda.

“With vivid detail and historic sweep” (New York Times Book Review), The Sisterhood reveals how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age—and how their silencing made the world more dangerous.