The War Queens: Extraordinary Women Who Ruled the Battlefield

by Jonathan W. Jordan, Emily Anne Jordan

The ingenious wartime tactics of some of history’s most powerful female leaders, from the stifling battlefields of ancient Egypt to the frigid waters off the Falkland Islands.

History’s killer queens come in all colors, ages, and leadership styles. Elizabeth Tudor and Golda Meir played the roles of high-stakes gamblers who studied maps with an unblinking, calculating eye. Angola’s Queen Njinga was willing to shed (and occasionally drink) blood to establish a stable kingdom in an Africa ravaged by the slave trade. Caterina Sforza defended her Italian holdings with cannon and scimitar, and Indira Gandhi launched a war to solve a refugee crisis.

From ancient Persia to modern-day Britain, the daunting thresholds these exceptional women had to cross―and the clever, sometimes violent ways in which they smashed obstacles in their paths―are evoked in vivid detail. The narrative sidles up to these war queens in the most dire, tumultuous moments of their reigns and examines the brilliant methods and maneuvers they each used to defend themselves and their people from enemy forces.

Father-daughter duo Jonathan W. and Emily Anne Jordan extoll the extraordinary power and potential of women in history who walked through war's kiln and emerged from the other side―some burnished to greatness, others burned to cinders. All of them, legends.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Feminism, Audiobook, War, Historical

380 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2020

About the author

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Jon grew up on Air Force bases, from which his father flew C-141 Starlifters for the Military Air Command during the Vietnam War. He lived in New Jersey, Ohio, and the Philippines until 1976, when his family moved to Selma, Alabama. Jon obtained an accounting degree from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and his law degree from Vanderbilt University. He practiced law in Texas for nine years before moving to Marietta, Georgia. He lives in Marietta with his wife, Kate, and their three children. He currently practices commercial litigation and corporate bankruptcy law at the Atlanta-based firm King & Spalding LLP.

Reviews

[Maja - BibliophiliaDK ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

GREAT SUBJECT THAT DESERVES EVEN MORE ATTENTION!

I wrote my master's thesis in history about medieval English queenship, so this book was right up my alley - I love strong female figures and the Middle Ages has delivered its fair share of them! This book, however, dealt with more than just medieval queens - it even dealt with women that weren't even queen - and that really taught me something new. However, there were some flaws to this book that dragged it down slightly in my opinion.

👍 WHAT I LIKED 👍

Humorous: History is not boring! This book really showed how surprisingly fun history can be when it is conveyed and written right. Jordan did a wonderful job making these women and their stories come alive with humour and wit.

Variety: Many authors/historians have a tendency to be Eurocentric. I really liked that Jordan branched out and included African and Asian queens as well. That really gave me a lot of new information.

👎 WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE 👎

Length: It annoyed me quite a bit that some women had veeeery long biographies, while other had noticeably shorter ones. It was quite obvious that the more 'famous' queens such as Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great had longer chapters than the other lesser known queens.

Lesser known: While I'm on the subject, I really wished there had been more lesser known women. Maybe some South American, some Chinese, some Eastern European and so on. The famous women took up to much space in my opinion.

Modern 'queens': This is perhaps just me being a stickler for accuracy, but it actually really bothered me that this book is named War Queens when some of the subjects weren't even queens... sure, they were heads of states, but they weren't queens. Two different things!

ARC provided by the publisher through Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review

[Becca Mee · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It was a women's war--and the woman in her won."

As a historian by trade, it is a special treat to be able to review a historical nonfiction book before it is published. I'm fascinated by Women's history and the way history has forgotten the fierce women of the past, and The War Queens delightfully brings these women back from the fringe of history men delegated them to.

Based on primary sources, The War Queens brings to life the warrior women of the past over a period of 2500 years. These women came from all over the world and waged war with varying levels of success, but they did so in a world where men sought to take power from them. Some are well-known, others are more obscure. Some were beloved, others reviled. All were important. In particular, I really appreciated how the authors shined a spotlight on ancient and non-Western women who were significant in history. That is a valuable addition to the literature on this topic. My only criticism was that were some notable women left out, but I understand that not all can be covered. I enjoyed War Queens and think it is the perfect non-fiction read for Women's History Month.

[Alex Kershaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hugely enjoyable and very well written.

[Melisende · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will preface this by saying that I read this around the same time as "Sisters In Arms" by Julie Wheelwright; and as with that tome, I - personally - was left wanting a little more. Mayhap because I was already familiar with the women featured (Tomyris, Artmeisia, Boudicca, Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Caterina Sforza, Tamar of Georgie, Catherine the Great - to name but a few) that I was looking for a bit more variety - maybe, someone not on anyone's top ten list.

What I will say is that each woman featured has her own story to tell and it is told well, with some background information and a focus on the well known battles in which their are noted for (these are are explained quite well for the lay-reader). One reviewer commented that Maggie Thatcher should not have been included as she wasn't a "queen" per se - well neither was Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir or Caterina Sforza for that matter.

There are many more example of women who could have been included (Empress Matilda and her rival Matilda of Boulogne, Zenobia, Isabella of Castile, Rani of Jhansi, Amanitore of Nubia, even Katherine of Aragon) for whilst many did take to the battlefield, they were also strongly supported by seasoned military commanders - and I was particularly struck by the quote from Gen. George Patton: "... tactics .. belong at battalion level, not in the supreme commander's palace ..." - a sly reference to the fact that a good leader need not always be required to know everything military-wise.

The extensive bibliography, secondary sources, and notes will provide those with an interest the stepping stones for explore and research at their leisure.

[S S · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overly flowery prose kinda made this tough to read at times, but it really started cooking around the middle where the book stuck with one "queen" for an extended period of time rather than just glossing over the ancient queens (Cleopatra, Artemesia, Tomyris, etc) for just 10 pages or so. The chapters on Elizabeth I, Caterina Sforza, Catherine the Great, and Njinga were absolutely engrossing. The "modern" era was super dicey, covered Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and Margaret Thatcher. Suddenly the framing of "yay! girl-boss warrior queen" felt uncomfortable.

[OutlawPoet · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, you've likely heard of many (if not most) of these women and you likely think you already know their stories. Like what more can you possibly learn about Cleopatra, right? Um...wrong.

This isn't one of your staid academic history tomes. This spills the tea.

Really...we have all the gossip, all the scandals, all the salacious details. This is history - good parts only!

These woman were bold, violent, clever - and they did anything and everything to protect what was theirs.

Seriously fun reading. And inspiring - though maybe in all the wrong ways!

[Mariel Matranga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a great book. It has poise, just as much as it is blunt, and unrelenting in its depiction of historical accounts. It is well written. I find that in reading this; there are many things the history books we had in school left out. I would surely recommend this book to others to read.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a kindle copy from the goodread's giveaway. wow. I never realized how many powerful women there have been over time that have made decisions during times of war. This book spans from about 300 B.C. the modern time. This book writes of Queens and other women of power. Many I have heard of like. Cleopatra, Elizabeth the first, Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher. and Indira Gandhi, but there so many other strong women who were right there with the men making strategic decisions, some over many years. I had never heard of Catarina Sforza who married very young and had to protect her children from being murdered and fought right back. Nice to read about strong women.

[Dee Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible.com 15 hours 49 min. Narrated by Hillary Huber (A)

Written by a father/daughter writing team, The War Queens tells the stories of some famous and some lesser known women who led their countries or tribes in war. From the more famous like Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, to the Celtic queen Budica, the mongol queen who married her 5 year old step son, the last of Gengis Khan's bloodline, and Tamar the King of Kings and Queen of Queens of Georgia their lives were different because they were forced to play a man's role in a world where men did not expect women to rule. The writers use sarcasm and wit to make this book an easy listen.

[Lucsbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t often read historical biographies but this was a really enjoyable read.

The women discussed in this book lived in completely different times, led completely different lives and came from completely different places and that alone made me like it because I’m glad it wasn’t just about European noblewomen.

The book reads easily as a short story collection and if you like to read about history, powerful women, war and military strategy then this is a perfect read.

I particularly enjoyed the first part of the book about women such as Tamar of Georgia, Artemisia of Caria or Cleopatra but my absolute favorite was Queen Tomyris of Massagetai.
I also really loved that "The Female of the Species" poem was used across the book.

Thank you to Diversion and Edelweiss+ for this DRC

[Thomas Lennek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must -read for military history readers

The authors give a well researched, nuanced presentation of 10 women "queens of battle." Complete with references and footnotes , each woman leader is presented in their own chapter. Easy to read, all fathers should give this book to their teenaged daughters.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took a bit longer to read than I anticipated; because, it was so well-written and I truly wanted to benefit from the research provided. The authors (Jordan & Jordan) are gifted story-tellers who bring the characters alive with humor, sarcasm and incredible detail. At times, it felt more like doing research; but, incredibly enlightening. I applaud their approach to analyzing women as military leaders in history. Somehow, having come of age during the fight for ERA, I thought the conclusion would be much more inspiring. Instead, it felt like a token concession to having been in the right place at the right time and finding no one else to do what needed done, they stepped up and did it. The book outlines what it takes to be a successful leader during conflict and these women figured it out for better or worse. It felt less an homage to overcoming prejudices and more about happenstance. The ending came much too soon and was a bit weak in summarizing the objectives of what these women had in common. Somehow, I expected something more. I definitely wanted to know why these particular women were chosen. There didn't seem to be much of a common denominator other than they were women and fought wars. All in all, though, this is an excellent book and a great way to learn about epochs in history and how women were perceived by their contemporaries.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating subject, though while there was much here that was interesting, I would have liked to see some lesser known figures included - I was fairly familiar with all of them and their exploits, and could think of quite a few others I would have liked to learn more about. Also, I wish the authors had stuck with the literal meaning of their title instead of including 20th century politicians for the last part.

[Danica is Booked · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 I have read quite a few survey books (books where they cover many different people briefly). I tend to prefer books that don't take a mile-wide and an inch-deep framework, as I like to really dive in.

However, survey books are popular and fun, and so I read quite a few of them. As a survey book, this one was well done. I had originally worried whether the tone of voice would annoy me as it was a bit more lighthearted at times, but it didn't. The book succeeded at looking at women from various times and various regions and wasn't as European-centric as many of these surveys are. As a survey book, I thought the father-daughter duo did a great job.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fairly satisfied in what I learned from the book. Most likely the lack of information on some of the women featured has to do with a lack of sources, but I appreciated the effort to finding out these stories and spelling them out in a fun way where I learned history and was entertained.

I agree with a comment I found in the reviews that I wish there were more women from more regions and that the well known women has been given less space so that a rich diversity could take place. However, I would read this again to review the tactics and efforts of these historical leaders.

[KAM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Badass women in history don’t get the attention they deserve. I’m glad the authors chose not just the most popular names, but lesser known women and not just a Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, and Catherine the Great.

I learned so much from this book and it was inspiring on my way home from work to listen to women that I could use as inspiration to achieve my career goals.

That being said, some parts were written heavy handed and felt Dickensian at times, including details just for the sake of details vs. adding to the story.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very readable and thorough book that manages to stay mostly down the middle and factual when discussing the famous/infamous women of history who have risen and fought. As important as Joan of Arc was, I am pleased to see her not in this book so we could instead have more information on more ancient and more non-Western women - who are so often ignored because these types of books focus so thoroughly on the likes of Cleopatra and Elizabeth I. I love learning new things so it was with relish that I read about Queen Njinga and Caterina Sforza and Queen Tamar.

[Kris Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot! There was a good mixture of “popular” figures and lesser known women. The authors did a fine job of humanizing the women. Taking them from the pages of history books and breathing life into them, infusing them with their personalities and feelings. The book doesn’t have that dry, information only vibe to it. Written with depth and light humor, it was an engaging and enjoyable read.

[Patsy Hennessey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book that introduced me to historical figures that I didn't already know about and told me more about some I did. I would have enjoyed this book more if it had focused more on these fascinating women and their lives and less on quite long, detailed descriptions of specific battles.

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This week has been such a wild ride I forgotten to review the book, but I can say this book was amazing.

I learned so much about women through history, and the writing had some funny sideways I wasn't expecting for a non-fiction book. You can definitely tell a lot of love (and research) went into this book.

[Oscar Lilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I knew of most but was educated by a few I didnt know about. And for most I did have a cursory understanding of my knowledge was deepened. But I couldnt get around the peculiar absence of a Rus queen who was the brilliant scourge of Ukraine during the high age if the Vikings, hence the 4 star rating.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walaupun karakter yang diambil gak terlalu banyak tapi rata2 badass dan berpengalaman menghadapi perang.
Cara berceritanya simple, informatif tapi gak berkesan menggurui. Walau foto ilustrasinya dikit tapi cukuplah buat tahu latar belakang masing2 war queen ini.

[Karo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject manor is interesting, but if you've already done some reading on the subject this book is going to leave you wanting. Especially because the usual 'suspects' get a lot more space than any of the lesser known queens

[Katherine B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very enjoyable. A brief overview of some of the world's greatest women who led countries through war, whether successfully or not.

[Aimee Gilder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does what it says on the tin. Informative, good length and a good entry level introduction to each woman.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Snore

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Their was a few stories I didn't care for but the others where pretty good.

[Barbara Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and well researched history of some amazing women! Very readable spiced up with great humor.

[Danyell Robinson Boyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book unnecessarily dry and boring. It reads like a textbook, which is a shame.

[Brenda Achenbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great survey of women who ruled in times of war.