Amazons and Military Maids

The author traces the careers of women who have lived and worked as men, from the 1700s to their re-emergence in the First World War. She assesses the way in which womens' experience changes to accommodate masculine and feminine concepts and the tensions experienced by women as they struggle with the contradictions of harbouring male and female identities within themselves. In so doing, she tries to gain an insight into the changing sexual roles, patriotism and the ideology of war and peace. The writer draws on memoirs, letters, diaries, historical archives and rare sketches to illustrate her case.