ShortBookandScribes #Giveaway of a Paperback Copy of Women of Steel by Michelle Rawlins

I’m delighted to be giving away a copy of Women of Steel by Michelle Rawlins today, which has just been published in paperback by Headline. Today is a special day as it marks 80 years since the final day of the Sheffield Blitz, with 12th and 15th December 1940 being the worst nights of German Luftwaffe Bombing that took place in my home city.

Wikipedia tells me that “In total over 660 people were killed, 1,500 injured and 40,000 made homeless. 3,000 homes were demolished with a further 3,000 badly damaged. A total of 78,000 homes received damage. Six George Medals were awarded to citizens of Sheffield for their bravery during the raids. 134 victims of the raids were buried in a communal grave in City Road Cemetery.”


In her book, Michelle Rawlins covers some of the Women of Steel’s own experiences during the Sheffield Blitz. I loved the book and you can read my review here. The women were so strong and feisty, doing hard labour and mostly loving it! It’s a book that made me cheer for their achievements but also broke my heart to read what they went through.



To be in with a chance of winning a paperback copy of Women of Steel you need to do at least one of the following things (each one earns you one entry):

  1. Comment on this blog post saying why you want to read the book.
  2. Go to the pinned tweet on my Twitter account, follow and retweet.

Good luck.

Terms and conditions:

1. UK only.
2. Giveaway ends 5pm Friday 18th December 2020.
3. Winners will be chosen at random and contacted shortly after the end of the 
giveaway.
4. Spam or giveaway accounts will not be included.

29 Comments

  • I would love a copy – born and bred in Sheffield

  • This sounds like a fantastic book. I have a keen interest in WWII so this is a book I would love to read.

  • I’d like to give it to my Mum to distract her from life at the moment!

  • Maddalena Dalton

    I’m born and bred in Yorkshire😁 would love to read it xx

  • Gillian Woodhouse

    I would love a copy of this book. I joined Michelle’s recent zoom talk on the stories and attended the concert to raise funds towards the Women of Steel statue outside the city hall. I started working for British Steel in 1978 in the IT department. During my time employed in the steel industry I have been on the mill many times and always think of those tough women who kept production going during the war. The only thing I have survived over the years in the industry are the rounds of redundancy, until now that is. I am sad to be finishing at the end of the year, but it does mean I will have time to get round to reading the book.

  • I would love to win as I have lots of friends from Sheffield and share an interest there. (liked and followed on Twitter also)

  • I would love to win this for my fiancée, Ww2 is her favourite genre, and she loves books with about woman at this time period stepping up and keeping us running on the home front, the strengths, bonds and friendships supporting each other.

  • I know quite a lot about the Birmingham Blitz as I have researched it and been told by my mother. My mom watched the planes go over to bomb Coventry a couple of days before her 10th birthday. A couple of days later they came back again and went for the BSA the major producer of guns during the war, they also demolished her catholic school, so her education stopped at 10 years of age. She was 90 last month and Annie Murray has written “Girls in Tin Hats” which includes both incidents and is all about the parts of Birmingham where I grew up..

    The only bombing that I know about in Sheffield is from the Margaret Dickinson book “The Clippie Girls” , so I would jump at the chance to read “Women of Steel”. I currently live over the other side of the Pennines from Sheffield

  • I’d like to read this book because the women were so strong .

  • I’d love to win a copy for my students. I am trying to build a diverse non fiction collection which will include historical events such as the Blitz. With reduced funding in FE, I am unable to purchase anything that is not curriculum specific. We are also trying to build our books which focus on empowering women and female leads. This would be a fantastic resource to offer them in 2021.

  • I spent my university years in Sheffield surrounded by strong women so I’d love to read this

    • Fabulous! Good luck.

    • Lynne, your name came out of the hat for a copy of this wonderful book. I’ll pass your email address to Michelle Rawlins who will be in touch to arrange to send your book to you. Happy Christmas.

  • I enjoy reading WWI and WWII books as despite it being a terrible period the women are usually portrayed as being powerful and positive and thus I find them quite uplifting. I have to admit the books are usually based in Liverpool so it’d make a nice change to read about a different area of the UK and industry and the impact war had on them. I’ve never been to Sheffield.

  • My wife loves Books set in both wars .This would be page turner for herThanks

  • I already have a copy of this book but wanted to comment as I didn’t realise you were also from Sheffield! My Nan was one of the Women of Steel and the day she got her award a few years ago was a very proud day for our family. These are stories that need to be told. Good luck everyone!

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