The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War

In her analysis of Kathleen Harriman, Sarah Churchill's and Anna Roosevelt’s roles at Yalta, Katz explores women’s lives in 1940s American and British society. As the daughters of upper-class families, all three women enjoyed comfortable lifestyles and excellent educations compared to most women at the time. However, even these three women were not free to pursue any career they wanted, as there were still social and legal barriers to professional advancement for women. Katz explains that World War ll created new social and professional conditions which allowed many women, including Sarah and Kathleen, to gain new employment that they would otherwise have been restricted from because of their gender.

Like over a quarter of a million other women, Sarah Churchill served in the Royal Air Force, which had recently established a new section to accommodate women. While working as an Aerial Intelligence Officer was a far cry from her previous career as an actress, Churchill excelled at her position, sometimes even besting her father with her knowledge. Katz writes, “Sarah and her fellow intelligence analysts worked around the clock scrutinizing pilots’ aerial photographs of German and Italian shipyards, railways, troop movements, and factories,” all of which was “vital information that informed Allied naval invasions, ground assaults, and bombing strategies” (65).