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wordsofclover 's review for:
The Woman Who Fought an Empire: Sarah Aaronsohn and Her Nili Spy Ring
by Gregory J. Wallance
I received a free e-copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Woman Who Fought an Empire tells the story of 27-year-old Sarah Aaronsohn, who helped run Niki - an anti-Turkish spy ring that helped the British during the war against the Ottoman Empire during and post World War One. Aaronsohn ran the spy ring alongside her brothers and some family friends, and ultimately chose to kill herself following days of torture by Turkish military rather than give up her secrets.
This book was a good look for me on a war I knew very little about, and some aspects of World War One outside of the general European areas such as Britain, France and Germany where most tales are based out of. I am ashamed to say I know pretty much nothing regarding the Ottoman Empire, and I do feel like I learned a little bit reading this book - and I also expanded my knowledge on the Armenian Genocide which was something I knew of but never actually knew the (horrific and heartbreaking) details of.
I will say that I feel Sarah was overshadowed in this book by her brother Aaron and her best friend/potential romantic partner Avshalom, who were also the leaders of the ring. There seemed to be a lot more shared about Aaron, Avshalom and other male members of the ring than Sarah herself at times, and I honestly couldn't see why the author had to keep referring to all the men apparently in love with Sarah. There was also several references to Mata Hari, another female spy around the same time, who was executed, in derogatory and dismissive terms - seemingly because she was also an exotic dancer. I got the impression the author didn't approve of Hari's lifestyle.
Overall, I feel like I didn't get to know enough about Sarah herself, and the book overall didn't hold my interest as much as I would have liked. I do think there's some great potential for a heartbreaking, expansive WW1-era novel about Sarah, her life, her loves and her tragic death which would suit better than a fact-laden non-fiction like this one.
The Woman Who Fought an Empire tells the story of 27-year-old Sarah Aaronsohn, who helped run Niki - an anti-Turkish spy ring that helped the British during the war against the Ottoman Empire during and post World War One. Aaronsohn ran the spy ring alongside her brothers and some family friends, and ultimately chose to kill herself following days of torture by Turkish military rather than give up her secrets.
This book was a good look for me on a war I knew very little about, and some aspects of World War One outside of the general European areas such as Britain, France and Germany where most tales are based out of. I am ashamed to say I know pretty much nothing regarding the Ottoman Empire, and I do feel like I learned a little bit reading this book - and I also expanded my knowledge on the Armenian Genocide which was something I knew of but never actually knew the (horrific and heartbreaking) details of.
I will say that I feel Sarah was overshadowed in this book by her brother Aaron and her best friend/potential romantic partner Avshalom, who were also the leaders of the ring. There seemed to be a lot more shared about Aaron, Avshalom and other male members of the ring than Sarah herself at times, and I honestly couldn't see why the author had to keep referring to all the men apparently in love with Sarah. There was also several references to Mata Hari, another female spy around the same time, who was executed, in derogatory and dismissive terms - seemingly because she was also an exotic dancer. I got the impression the author didn't approve of Hari's lifestyle.
Overall, I feel like I didn't get to know enough about Sarah herself, and the book overall didn't hold my interest as much as I would have liked. I do think there's some great potential for a heartbreaking, expansive WW1-era novel about Sarah, her life, her loves and her tragic death which would suit better than a fact-laden non-fiction like this one.