In her vivid memoir For the Duration, Ashbee gives a candid, often humorous account of her experiences during World War II as she rose through the ranks in Britain s Women s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). Joining shortly after the outbreak of the war in 1939, Ashbee began in the nerve center of the Royal Air Force s (RAF s) battle with the enemy, soon advanced to the intelligence department, and later served as an administrator at various RAF stations. She relates how she and other WAAFs coped with a war machine that desperately needed the help of women but whose all-male leadership did not...