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A review by sbn42
The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict
4.0
Hedy Lamarr's story as an inventor and movie actress was already familiar. What I especially liked about this book was her early development from a young, wealthy Jewish girl in Vienna, to an intimate witness to the seeds of WWII.
Austria's gradual slide from a democracy to a fascist state, eventually under the rule of Germany, plays out as her husband, the arms manufacturer and "Merchant of Death", Fritz Mandl seeks to secure his fortunes. His company has benefited from supplying weapons to conflicting sides, but he finally has to choose a side. Lamarr's role has been reduced to nothing more than Mandl's hostess, where she is given the same respect as the furniture in the room, even though she is quite brilliant in her own right.
If you are only interested in her scientific achievements, this is not the book for you. It gives short shrift to frequency-hopping technology and proximity triggers. I was more interested in her life in Vienna, so it met my expectations.
Austria's gradual slide from a democracy to a fascist state, eventually under the rule of Germany, plays out as her husband, the arms manufacturer and "Merchant of Death", Fritz Mandl seeks to secure his fortunes. His company has benefited from supplying weapons to conflicting sides, but he finally has to choose a side. Lamarr's role has been reduced to nothing more than Mandl's hostess, where she is given the same respect as the furniture in the room, even though she is quite brilliant in her own right.
If you are only interested in her scientific achievements, this is not the book for you. It gives short shrift to frequency-hopping technology and proximity triggers. I was more interested in her life in Vienna, so it met my expectations.