The Sisterhood

A ΓÇ£rip-roaringΓÇ¥ (Steve Coll),ΓÇ£staggeringly well-researchedΓÇ¥ (The New York Times) history of three generations at the CIAΓÇ£electric with revelationsΓÇ¥ (Booklist) about the women who fought to become operativestransformed spycraftand tracked down Osama bin Ladenfrom the bestselling author of Code Girls A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORSΓÇÖ CHOICE ΓÇó A FOREIGN POLICY AND SMITHSONIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR In development as a series from Lionsgate Televisionexecutive produced by Scott Delman (Station Eleven) Created in the aftermath of World War IIthe Central Intelligence Agency relied on women even as it attempted to channel their talents and keep them down. Women sent cablesmade dead dropsand maintained the agencyΓÇÖs secrets. Despite discriminationΓÇöeven because of itΓÇöwomen who started as clerkssecretariesor unpaid spouses rose to become some of the CIAΓÇÖs shrewdest operatives. They were unlikely spiesΓÇöand thatΓÇÖs exactly what made them perfect for the role. Because women were seen as unimportantpioneering female intelligence officers moved unnoticed around BonnGenevaand Moscowstealing secrets from under the noses of their KGB adversaries. Back at headquarterswomen built the CIAΓÇÖs critical archivesΓÇöfirst by handthen by computer. And they noticed things that the men at the top didnΓÇÖt see. As the CIA faced an identity crisis after the Cold Warit was a close-knit network of female analysts who spotted the rising threat of al-QaedaΓÇöthough their warnings were repeatedly brushed aside. After the 9/11 attacksmore women joined the agency as a new jobtargetercame to prominence. They showed that data analysis would be crucial to the post-9/11 national security landscapeΓÇöan effort that culminated spectacularly in the CIAΓÇÖs successful effort to track down bin Laden in his Pakistani compound. Propelled by the same meticulous reporting and vivid storytelling that infused Code GirlsThe Sisterhood offers a riveting new perspective on historyrevealing how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence ageand how their silencing made the world more dangerous