'This excellent book is the latest offering in the University of Wales Press's splendid series Studies in Welsh History. This press has recently entered a notable period of reinvigoration, during which a wealth of new historical studies have been published. This flurry of activity must surely place it at the forefront of academic presses ... This fascinating book explains how the war, an event that is traditionally regarded as the preserve of macho posturing and male heroism, also offered opportunities for the advancement and liberation of women. Despite contemporary insistence that these were special, temporary measures for desperate times, things had changed terribly and utterly, and would never be the same again.' www gwales.com ' ... This book is especially valuable because it is sensitively attuned to the distinctive context of industrial South Wales as well as contributing to a wider understanding of women's history in twentieth century Britain ... this is a clearly articulated and important book which deserves to be widely read ...' (Welsh History Review)