From Mata Hari through to Noor Inyat Khan, women spies have rarely received the recognition they deserve. They have often been trivialised and, in cinema and popular fiction, stereotyped as vamps or dupes. The reality is very different. As spies, women have played a critical role during wartime, receiving and passing on vital information, frequently at considerable risk. Often able to blend into their background more easily than their male counterparts, women have worked as couriers, transmitters and with resistance fighters, their achievements often unknown. Many have died. Ann Kramer describes the role of women spies during wartime, with particular reference to the two world wars. She looks at why some women chose to become spies, their motives and backgrounds. She looks at the experience of women spies during wartime, what training they received, and what skills they needed. She examines the reality of life for a woman spy, operating behind enemy lines, and explores and explodes the myths about women spies that continue until the present day. The focus is mainly on Britain but will also take an international view as appropriate. AUTHOR: Ann Kramer has lived in Hastings since the 1970s where she is known to both the local media and bookstores. SELLING POINTS: . Role of women spies from Mata Hari through to Noor Inyat Khan . Exploring the stereotype: Mata Hari . Motives and aims: why do women become spies? . Training and reality: preparing to go behind enemy lines and the reality . Just 'ordinary women': the women of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) . Biographies of some notable women spies ILLUSTRATIONS 8 b/w plates *