Nathalia Holt’s “Wise Gals” tells the story of a small cadre of influential female spies in the precarious early days of the CIA. The women helped create the template for cutting-edge espionage in the post-Second World War era.
The four agents, Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page and Elizabeth Sudmeier, were able to make real change in a traditionally “male, pale and Yale” organization — but not without some tragic losses and real heartache along the way.
They were smart, courageous, and groundbreaking agents at the top of their class, instrumental in both developing innovative tools for intelligence gathering — and insisting that they receive the credit and pay their expertise deserved.
