Women

The most important book of the year, publishing 26 November 2024For 16 years, Angela Merkel was Chancellor of Germany. She led the country through numerous crises, shaping both Germany and international politics with her actions and attitudes. In her...

A gripping family saga and a portrait of a world in turmoilThe Princesses of Hesse were Queen Victoria's grandchildren. After the sudden death of her daughter Alice, Queen Victoria took an obsessive interest in the marriage prospects of the four girls...

Shortlisted for the HWA Non-Fiction Crown Award 2023The history of a demonic tradition that was stolen from women - and then won back again.'Remarkable work... Extraordinary, meticulous detail' Literary Review'Deftly fuses scholarly rigour, control of...

A revelatory history of the women who brought Victorian criminals to account-and how they became a cultural sensation From Wilkie Collins to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the traditional image of the Victorian detective is male. Few people realise...

For readers of The National Team, Good and Mad, and Born to Run, as well as feminist histories like Fly Girls, this edge-of-your-seat, virtually unknown story by award-winning sports journalist Maggie Mertens tells how women broke into competitive...

From the critically acclaimed artist, designer, and author of the bestsellers The Principles of Uncertainty and My Favorite Things comes a wondrous collection of words and paintings that is a moving meditation on the beauty and complexity of women's...

Traditionally, a woman's place was never on stormy seas. But actually thousands of dancers, purserettes, doctors, stewardesses, captains and conductresses have taken to the waves on everything from floating palaces to battered windjammers. Their daring...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 'A wake-up call' Amal Clooney 'Devastating... rape and...

Bestselling, award-winning novelist writing about one of the most popular and enduring English novelists - recently voted best author of all time.'Splendid ... a gem' LITERARY REVIEW'An excellent biography' MAIL ON SUNDAY'Shields on Austen offers up a...

On 4 August 2012 Jessica Ennis kicked off what some described as the greatest night in British sporting history. For her it was the end of a long, winding, and sometimes harrowing road.Hers is an inspiring tale of following your dreams no matter what...

Did women really constitute a `fourth estate' in medieval society and, if so, in what sense? In this wide-ranging study Shulamith Shahar considers this and the whole question of the varying attitudes to women and their status in western Europe between...

Noblewoman, vividly documents both the great and the trivial events of her long life. They cover her life from her childhood days, when she witnessed the funeral of Queen Elizabeth I, to her last months, when she recalled her past from her room in...

If you love The Island and Cartes Postales from Greece by Victoria Hislop, you will love this perfect summer read from the author of Island of Secrets.Rebecca Neumanner's marriage is on the brink of collapse, as her desire to be a mother becomes an...

The history of Egyptology is often told as yet one more grand narrative of powerful men striving to seize the day and the precious artifacts for their competing homelands. But that is only half of the story. During the Golden Age of Exploration, there...

Overlooked by historians for over half a century following her death, Ernestine L. Rose (1810 1892) was one of the foremost orators and social reformers of her era. A fearless human rights activist, she fought for racial equality, women's rights,...

White women are one of the most influential demographics in America-we are the largest voting bloc, with purchasing power that exceeds anybody else's, and when we unify to demand change, we are a force to be reckoned with. Yet, so many of us sit idly...

'A fascinating polemic' Sunday Times 'A powerful, sobering and vital work' The Mail on Sunday 'A page-turning read, peppered with humour' Sight & Sound'A must read' Edgar WrightA call to arms from Empire magazine's 'geek queen', Helen O'Hara, that...

The Whitbread Prize-winning biography of Vita Sackville-West. Vita Sackville-West was a vital, gifted and complex woman. A dedicated writer, she made her mark as poet, novelist, biographer, travel writer, journalist and broadcaster. She was also one...

Women's History: Britain 1850-1945 introduces the main themes and debates of feminist history during this period of change, and brings together the findings of new research. It examines the suffrage movement, race and empire, industrialisation, the...

The story of four remarkable women who shaped the intellectual history of the 20th century: Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley, and Iris Murdoch. On the cusp of the Second World War, four women went to Oxford to begin their studies: a...

This book chronicles the history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and the stories of the first women to play professional baseball in a league of their own. In 1941, the world was at war, and with able-bodied American men...

'Writing about Queen Victoria has been one of the most joyous experiences of my life. I have read thousands (literally) of letters never before published, and grown used to her as to a friend. Maddening? Egomaniac? Hysterical? A bad mother? Some have...

In it you’ll find writers, artists, politicians, actors, musicians, fashionistas, from Sappho to Beyoncé and Dorothy Parker to Carrie Fisher, all of whom have two things in common: brilliant minds and barbed wits that sting with their precision...

'Captures both Barbara and her writing so miraculously' JILLY COOPER Picked as a Book to Look Forward to in 2021 by the Guardian, The Times and the Observer A Radio 4 Book of the Week, April...

A unique take on women's history from the bestselling author of British Summer Time Begins'Witty, clever and warm-hearted' The Times'Maxtone Graham [has a] unique blend of high comedy and shrewd social observation' Spectator'Terrific' Daily...

From the ashes of the Second World War came forward-thinking fashions, the likes of which had never been seen before. The early Forties were defined by thriftiness and practicality, a make-do-and-mend attitude in a time of war. However, the latter half...

Readers of Princess Sultana's extraordinary biography Princess were gripped by her powerful indictment of women's lives behind the veil within the royal family of Saudi Arabia. They were every bit as fascinated by the sequel, Daughters of Arabia.Here,...

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that choose who dies and who lives on the battlefield. They protect some, but guide spears, arrows and sword blades into the bodies of others. Viking myths about...

Princess Victoria Melita played a colourful role from her birth in 1876. The second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, she made a brief and unhappy marriage at the age of 17 to her cousin, Ernest, Grand Duke of Hesse. In the face of strong opposition...

In the years leading up to the First World War, the United Kingdom was subjected to a ferocious campaign of bombing and arson. Those conducting this terrorist offensive were members of the Women's Social and Political Union; better known as the...

A life of Matilda-empress, skilled military leader, and one of the greatest figures of the English Middle Ages "[Matilda] will attract a growing audience interested in stories of women challenging the male-dominated European past."-Alexandra Locking,...

The flight of King James II in November 1688 was a seminal moment in British history. The deposed Catholic King set up house and home in Paris, William and Mary succeeded to the throne of England and over fifty years of trouble, strife, war and execution...

'Reveals an until-now hidden history of women's self-portraiture. A gift that keeps on giving' ALI SMITH, NEW STATESMAN, Books of the Year'A fascinating survey . . . Extraordinary' DAILY MAIL'A bewitching, invigorating history' OLIVIA LAING'Grips from...

A complete history of women’s football, from its Victorian games beginning in 1881, to the plans for England to host the Euro Finals in England 2022, this book demonstrates how women’s football began as a professional sport, and has only recently...

'Timely, necessary and important' J.K. Rowling'[This book is] guaranteed to remind us what we have still to fight for. I can't think of a single person who wouldn't benefit from reading it' Observer'Bindel is a rock star of second-wave feminism . . . an...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2023 A WATERSTONES BOOK OF YEAR FOR POLITICS 2023 'I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book'...

'One of the great social historians of our time. No one else makes history this fun' Amanda Foreman'How Was It For You? subtly but powerfully subverts complacent male assumptions about a legendary decade' David Kynaston--------------------------------"A...

A shocking and timely reminder of the role Nazi women played in the Holocaust, not only as plunderers and direct witnesses, but on the Eastern Front. History has it that the role of women in Nazi Germany was to be the perfect Hausfrau and a loyal...

At the turn of the century, women represented over half of the American foreign mission force and had settled in "heathen" China to preach the lessons of Christian domesticity. In this engrossing narrative, Jane Hunter uses diaries, reminiscences, and...

Amazons--fierce warrior women dwelling on the fringes of the known world--were the mythic archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Heracles and Achilles displayed their valor in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians reveled in their victory over a...