It provided a good and interesting overview into the lives of women in Europe throughout the centuries. A lot is covered, but at times it reads more like a list of examples than a book examining the position of women in society. Different aspects of society are examined, but there is a reliance on using women as examples. Most women only have a couple of sentences, which means that general claims are sometimes made, limiting the nuance and specifics of the lives of the women. However, the book does provide a lot of overall information, and serves as a good jumping off point for further study into specific areas.
A complete history of Europe is a bit of a huge undertaking and makes for some summary-filled reading. Because the book was organized by different types of women, you read about the same historic events and times multiple times from different POVs. Anyway, I bought this for a few passages in the medieval section, but I'm glad I read it through to the end. I learned a lot about the 18th and 19th centuries in particular that I had not known.