Book Review: ‘Propaganda Girls’ highlights women’s work in WWII

You may have heard of Marlene Dietrich, but what about Betty MacDonald, Zuzka Lauwers and Jane Smith-Hutton?

The four are bonded by World War II where they worked for the Office of Strategic Services. The OSS was the precursor to the CIA, which was created in 1947.

Propaganda Girls: The Secret War of the Women in the OSS (St. Martin’s Press, 2025) by Lisa Rogak is the story of their contributions to break the morale of enemies in the Pacific and European fronts.

Propaganda is the key word. It’s exactly what they were creating. It was a blend of enough reality with the falsehoods for soldiers on the ground to believe what was being distributed. The women worked in the department of Morale Operations.

The book is about their work as well as their personal lives. This was a time when women were a rarity in the work world; where their contributions were not always welcome.

It’s another book about people I knew nothing about. About people who made a significant contribution to the United States. The book also delves into their lives post-war.

The book is easy to read, and not very long. However, I was left wanting a little more. I’m not exactly sure what. Maybe how this tactic had been used before and by other governments. I wondered how U.S. soldiers might have been swayed by propaganda generated by other countries.

While I recommend the book, it is not a deep dive into the subject matter—which I would have preferred.