Showing titles in Women

Contrary to popular assumption, Arab women were instrumental in shaping world history. Between Rome's intervention in the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab conquests, noblewomen ruled independently, conducting trade and making war. Their power was often celebrated as queen, priestess and goddess. With time they delegated power to the most important holy men of their age, influencing Arabian paganism, Christianity and Islam forever.

In England in the 1700s, a woman who was an intellectual, spoke out, or wrote professionally was considered unnatural. After all, as the wisdom of the era dictated, a clever woman—if there were such a thing—would never make a good wife. But a circle of women called the Bluestockings did something extraordinary: Coming together in glittering salons to discuss and debate as intellectual equals with men, they fought for women to be educated and to have a public role in society. In this intimate and revelatory history, Susannah Gibson delves into the lives of these pioneering women.

In December 1832 a farmer found the body of a pregnant young woman hanging near a haystack outside a New England mill town. When news spread that Methodist preacher Ephraim Avery was accused of murdering Sarah Maria Cornell, a factory worker, the case gave the public everything they found irresistible: sexually charged violence, adultery, the hypocrisy of a church leader, secrecy and mystery, and suspicions of insanity. Murder in a Mill Town tells the story of how a local crime quickly turned into a national scandal that became America's first "trial of the century."

Great Pioneer Women of the Outback profiles 10 female pioneers, from Jeannie Gunn, author of We of the Never Never, to equally remarkable but lesser known women, such as Emma Withnell in Western Australia and Evelyn Maunsell in Queensland. Building on the women's records and her own knowledge of Australian history, Susanna de Vries documents the grit and determination it took to build what many today would consider an extraordinary life.

"Elle est la plus dangereuse de toutes les espionnes alliées. Nous devons la trouver et la détruire." 1942, la Gestapo lance un message d'alerte. Leur cible ? Virginia Hall. Une jeune femme, recrutée par les services secrets britanniques pour mener d'importantes missions d'espionnage en France occupée. Pourtant, rien ne prédestinait cette jeune américaine, issue d'une riche famille de Baltimore, à devenir cette combattante héroïque de la Résistance française. Amputée d'une jambe à la suite d'un grave accident, elle doit très jeune renoncer à son rêve de diplomatie.

The tried and tested 'On This Day in History' format has elevated the stories of many people and their impact on the wider world. However, of those considered noteworthy by the Establishment, just a fraction are women. But this is not the whole story - not by half. Our past is full of influential women many of whom have been unfairly confined to the margins of history. Politicians, troublemakers, explorers, artists, writers, scientists and even the odd murderer; these women have shaped society around the globe.

"If you're not strong enough to swim fast, you're probably not strong enough to swim 'pretty," said a young Esther Williams to theater impresario Billy Rose. Since the nineteenth century, tensions between beauty and strength, aesthetics and athleticism have both impeded and propelled the careers of female swimmers—none more so than synchronized swimmers, for whom Williams is often considered godmother. In this riveting history—the first of its kind—Vicki Valosik traces a century of aquatic performance, from vaudeville and dime museums to the Olympic arena.

Intelligent, elegant, and socially gifted, the Hon. Lady Emily Lamb was born into privilege—her godmother was the infamous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. After an early love marriage to Earl Cowper soured, she took a string of lovers, culminating in taming a rake: the promising, promiscuous Harry, Lord Palmerston. Placing herself at the centre of glamorous Regency high society with its duels and dissipation, Emily became a leader of fashion, admired by Lord Byron and Thomas Moore.

From the New York Times best-selling journalist, the staggering, hidden story of an unlikely band of mothers who discovered the deadly secret of Love Canal, and exposed one of America’s most devastating environmental disasters. Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their...

Combining the soul-baring confessional of Brain on Fire and the addictive storytelling of The Queen’s Gambit, a renowned puzzle creator’s compulsively readable memoir and history of the crossword puzzle as an unexpected site of women’s work and feminist protest. The indisputable “queen...

For a Yellow Jersey narrates the many remarkable lives of the women's Tour de France. A race which has, in its various incarnations, acted as a microcosm of the women's bike racing scene as a whole. Like the careers of many of its participants, the race itself represents an inspiring story of...

A “riveting and enlightening account” (Bookreporter) of a mostly unknown chapter in the life of Eleanor Roosevelt—when she moved to New York’s Greenwich Village, shed her high-born conformity, and became the progressive leader who pushed for change as America’s First Lady. Hundreds of...

‘Sometimes, 1+1 = changing the world. Cathy Newman’s witty, warm history on the power of determined couples will make you look at your relationship and wonder, “Could we be doing more this weekend than just going to IKEA?”’ CAITLIN MORAN Throughout history, collaboration has fuelled...

Women Who Invented the Sixties tells the story of how four women helped define the 1960s and made a lasting impression for decades to follow.

Shortly after its 1925 publication, Gertrude Beasley's ferociously eloquent feminist memoir was banned and she herself disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Though British Nobel Prize winner Bertrand Russell called My First Thirty Years "truthful, which is illegal" and Larry McMurtry pronounced it the finest Texas book of its era, Beasley's words have been all but inaccessible for almost a century—until now.

Seit Jahrhunderten werden Frauen unterdrückt. Frauen, die in irgendeiner Weise Stärke ausgestrahlt, sich selbst ermächtigt und zur Wehr gesetzt haben, werden belächelt, verurteilt und dämonisiert. Auf der Suche nach den Ursprüngen von Female Rage taucht Tara-Louise Wittwer (Sorry, aber …) in die europäische Geschichte ein und erzählt die ungehörten Geschichten der Frauen, die sich gegen das männliche Narrativ der Schwäche und Passivität gestemmt haben. Von den Sagen der Antike, bis zur Realität des 21.

This book is for listeners of true crime podcasts and audiences of both fiction and true-crime nonfiction. It's the true story of first-generation Irish-American nurse Jane Toppan, born as Honora Kelley. Jane Toppan was absolutely a monster, but she did not start out that way. When Jane was a young child, her father abandoned her and her sister to the Boston Female Asylum. From there, Jane was indentured to a wealthy family who changed her name, never adopted her, and wrote her out of the will.

Nika, studentessa, 16 anni? È caduta da un palazzo, dice il regime. Aida, 36, medico? Un amante l'ha spinta giù dal cavalcavia, dice il regime. Sono queste le storie quotidiane delle ragazze iraniane lungo le strade della «loro» Rivoluzione. Una generazione di giovani donne istruite che pagano col sangue il coraggio di mettere i propri corpi di traverso a un sistema vecchio, sessista, illiberale. Barbara Stefanelli raccoglie le storie delle ribelli iraniane e di chi ne ha sostenuto la battaglia. Per custodire i nomi e i volti, il sacrificio e le promesse.

Incisive, funny, and deeply-researched insights into the life, writing, and legacy of Jane Austen, by the preeminent scholar Devoney Looser. "[Narrator] Marisa Calin's pleasant British accent is perfect for this exploration of Regency-era social codes and wild-hearted women." — AudioFile...

In this groundbreaking biography, Mary Frances Phillips immerses listeners in the life and legacy of Ericka Huggins, a revered Black Panther Party member, as well as a mother, widow, educator, poet, and former political prisoner. In 1969, the police arrested Ericka Huggins along with Bobby Seale and fellow Black Panther Party members, who were accused of murdering Alex Rackley. This marked the beginning of her ordeal, as she became the subject of political persecution and a well-planned FBI COINTELPRO plot.