Hell in High Heels: Villainous Bitches You Won't (BUT SHOULD) Find in the History Books

by C.H. Burford

Addressing women in history with a unique perspective and a bit of flair!

History textbooks haven’t changed in at least thirty years. Imagine the author's disappointment when she realized her children were learning the same misinformation she did in K-12. Where the fuck were the women who refused to conform? Who refused to live under a man’s boot? The villains? The criminals? Did they not exist?

A handful of badass women are mentioned, usually in passing, in mainstream history books as a sort of appeasement for the feminist crowd—Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Cleopatra, Catherine the Great, et cetera, et cetera—but the author, a feminist, was not appeased. Or amused.

You won’t recognize many of the names here, if any, but there are some familiar names who merit a more honest accounting than they’ve been given. These are women who broke the law; who committed murder; who stole; who got a bad rap; who defied convention; who were so fucking fierce in their own time that contemporary historians exaggerated their villainy.

You ought to meet these badass—and sometimes really fucking scary—bitches. Some will make you cheer; some will make you laugh; and some will make you say, “Holy fuck! I hope that bitch is burning in Hell!"

Genres: Nonfiction

344 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 18, 2022

Reviews

[Jeff Gudzune, M.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title drew me like a moth to a flame, and the snark-laced disclaimer at the start of the book hooked me. Without even reading a word of the actual narrative I was entranced. I giggled like Snuggles the Bear at the refreshing realism of the author’s prose. This is the history they do not teach in school. It’s the dark, gritty, edgy side of history. Hell in High Heels: Villainous Bitches You Won’t (But Should) Find in the History Books shatters the scholarly glass ceiling and looks at figures whose infamy has earned them a place among the pantheon of historical bad apples.

The author’s prose may be laced with snark and sarcasm, but her historical examination remains poignant. So much of history is sugarcoated to suit societal trends or altered to support political points of view that its easy to forget that there are three sides to every story. In this book, the reader is introduced to the several women who have been consigned to the margins of textual history. Women are an integral part of history, and not just for their positive contributions. Women can also be the villain of the piece. Author C.H. Burford explores some prime examples.

I’m not a proponent of elevating the bad people to a position of notoriety—we have too many shrill, hate-driven, agent provocateur sock puppets on TV doing that already. However, the book is a study in scarlet—an examination of the nature and depths of bad deeds. The author is not celebrating these women so much as she is underscoring their actions. As an historical examination, the book is in-depth and quite informative. Among some of the more prominent femme fatales contained within the book are those whose deeds may shock and astound you but who nonetheless deserve to be recognized for their nefarious acts.

A must read

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Bee · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 15 pages in. The author's view is very centric of Western capitalism, misogyny, and slut-shaming– which is ironic seeing as this book was labelled as a "feminist" collection. Should've known that meant only white feminism.

I didn't finish this and I do not plan to ever.

[Kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the worst books I have ever read. Also, this book should have never ever been published. The person who decided to put it on the market should be prosecuted, seriously.
1. Swearing. Using what is called bad words has its benefits, we all know that. We all swear from time to time and as a person who had studied linguistics I am ready to stand up publically and say out loud that the swear words are there to be used, but they need to be used right. They have their place in every language and the rules do apply to them too! BUT using the word FUCK and its variations 2401 times in the entire book is UNACCEPTABLE! Especially when the marketing target is young women !!! Do you want this book in your 10 years daughter's hands??? I don´t!
2. Language. This book is simply badly written.
3. Attitude. The author is cocky and arrogant. Rude. Offensive.
3. Characters. I have no idea what the author wanted to achieve. Quote: "So here I´ve gathered for you a collection of women who most of the world don't know existed. (...) These are women who broke the law, who committed murder, who stole, who got a bad rap, who defied convention, who were so fucking fierce in their own time that contemporary historians exaggerated their villainy. I think you ought to meet these badass - and sometimes really fucking scary - bitches". Can someone explain to me what is the point of saving from forgetting a head of a gang, a murderer, an impostor, a thief? The author wants them to be remembered just because they were women and history has forgotten about them. I´d say we forgot about them for a reason. These women are not by any means the right example for our kids to follow!

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of female murderers, back stabbers in tricksters. From the gnome to the unknown it is full to the rim with interesting stories. Told by an author with a great handle on historical details and events. I found the stories were told aggressively and waste with profanity, but to be fair to CJ Burford, She warned you long before you even start the first story. Regardless of what language is used and in how many different context she can use the word bitch, I have come to love this book and highly respect its writer. This is not your typical copy and paste book a fax, but a well researched and passionately toll bunch of stories that you can’t get through in one setting. The stories are plenty in the interest aside if this is a book I would definitely recommend to any historical true crime fan. I loved it and can’t wait to get more books by this author. I was given this book my book sirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Please forgive any grammatical or punctuation of errors I am blind and dictate my review, but all opinions are my own. Any true lover of history should read this book!

[Shannon Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning should always be this fun!

I loved everything about this book. The author's note sets you up for the pace and content within the pages, this is not your "normal" history book. This is not your washed-down PG version of things and the author makes no apologies for it. If you pick this up know 2 things, you will learn something, you will enjoy learning something. I'm sure the style is not for everyone and the strong feminine energy may make a few uncomfortable.

You may think this is a book about villains and evil women, I see it instead as a book about women that more people should know the names of. Not every badass of the past was famous and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know a few more. These women are fierce, powerful and not the polite wilting flowers you often see spoken about. They are spunky and I couldn't help but look at a couple with envy simply because they weren't afraid to chase what they wanted, even if that meant going against the norm.

If more books were written like this I can't help but feel more people would embrace learning about the past. I received a free copy of this book through BookSirens and am leaving a voluntary honest review.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually I give this book 8 stars! I freaking loved this book and all the snarky comments by author throughout the book. I found myself chuckling quite a few times at her comments. And I agree with one of her opening comments that the history books on school seriously need to be updated. These kids need to be taught the important stuff not this shit they’re teaching today. Even when I was in school they taught crap that didn’t matter. Anything I wanted to learn I taught myself. There are a lot of historical figures that people need to know about and a lot of them are women! And don’t get me started on Christopher Columbus! I could go on for hours about the sick crap he did.
I’m a huge history buff and I’m really happy I found this book! You rock!! Keep telling it like it is!:)

I received this ARC from BookSirens and I volunteered to leave a review in which my opinions are my own.

[K. Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too much f*cking fun.

I love spunky history books. And Burford knows spunk as much as she knows history. This is a quick, light read with shots of history. (And lots of swearing, so gird your pearls.)

[Pamela J Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it

This book is a fantastic narrative that should be the gold standard of text ok writing. Written in a way that the reader can relate to each villain without feeling it's a chore to read about them.

[Uday Dhall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell in High Heels – C.H. Burford

They say that what men can do women can do better. The author C.H. Burford in the book “ Hell in High Heels” has unleashed on us, women who left behind a trail of deceit, forgery, mass murder, misappropriation of money, torture, and misuse of power. The list goes on. These women made a name for themselves albeit for the wrong reasons stunned the world with their nefarious activities. We have usually heard or read over the eons what the male species of humans can do. The author of this book has startled the readers with the narration of what women can do. These women outdid the men. And beyond comprehension. Their activities were blatant, and outrageous, and dared society to stop them. The point to ponder is not all these women came from broken homes or abusive backgrounds. Is it true that we make our circumstances or is it the reverse? The histories of these women suggest a grey. There is always a trigger somewhere, though.

The tenor and tone of C. H. Burford in narration are spot on. The profanity and cuss words do justice to the genre of facts. This work would not have been half as good if the author was prudent about the vocabulary used.

I will recommend this book to readers who love to delve into the history that largely has been ignored by historians. For all the wrong reasons, women outdid men when it came to achieving their goals. I wonder how many women in societies in the world slipped the radar and got away with murder.

I will congratulate the author for the meticulous research. I hope to be startled by your next book.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not your average history book. The author provides a fun and entertaining read about some pretty badass women from the past that you’d normally not learn about. Enjoyable and educational but could be a little less “sweary”.

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea of learning something new made me pick this book… the warning on the first page was also intriguing.

However, the idea that this book might make it to textbook status and should be read by those wanting to learn the underlying truth behind some famous or infamous women was totally derailed by the author’s blatant overuse of profanity just for the shock-value of it.

This book could have totally been textbook worthy had the author left out the UNNECESSARY profanity and written just the facts. I am by no means a prude or against some use of harsh language and descriptors but this author went beyond what was required and right into extraneous bad taste.

If it weren’t for the fact that I am curious about behind the scenes info, I would not have finished reading this book and would have given it zero stars. If this content was cleaned up and presented in textbook worthy script, I would have recommended it to everyone I know!

I received this review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sindhu S · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book's title and its sardonic disclaimer at the beginning caught my interest. I started off by laughing at most things C.H. Burford had written because I thought it was quite a refreshing take on historical infamous figures.

I quite liked the gritty, sarcastic, edgy treatment Burford has given them. She seems to have worked hard in terms of the sheer volume of in-depth research that has gone into the book.

I believe that women, whether their contributions are positive or negative, are an integral part of history. They should not be confined to just bare mentions or be portrayed as sidekicks or supporting actors. They also need not be painted as virtuous or villainous to suit the so-called normal/moral standards of society.

However, my enthusiasm started waning as I reached about a quarter of the book. Repetitive swear words, asides, and descriptions made the writing predictable.

Profanity: I don't use swear words but I am no prude. I am interested in etymology, and I respect all words because all of them were coined for some purpose and used so. I found the use of most swear words in the book purposeless.

Characters: In all anthologies, I look for the basic theme. Burford says: "So here I´ve gathered for you a collection of women who most of the world don't know existed. (...) These are women who broke the law, who committed murder, who stole, who got a bad rap, who defied convention, who were so fucking fierce in their own time that contemporary historians exaggerated their villainy. I think you ought to meet these badass - and sometimes really fucking scary – bitches."
Again, I am all for highlighting the feats of strong, fierce women but after a while, I started wondering whether she wanted to show that women can be as cruel/violent/terrifying as men or more so!

Asides and strange descriptions: I could overlook even the swear words but the asides - the frequent explanations or descriptions in parentheses - were unbearable. Were they meant to be funny, snarky, or cheeky? They were so irritating!

To sum up, this book is a missed opportunity. Had Burford excluded the profanity and the asides, it could have been an excellent reference book.

[Cavak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable read! Its sarcastic and casual tone appealed to me greatly, as I could pick it up and read it again in neat bite sizes. A bit like an attention-grabbing string of social media posts.

My only quibble is the mainly European and American focus of the book. Would've loved to have learned about other con-women or gutsy women from other parts of the globe. There are some, but perhaps a few more to balance the gap.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Bobbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for this book. I was totally drawn in by the title, and I found the early disclaimer enticing. That's where it ended though. I was so ready to learn about these women and their histories, and all I got was a modern judgment of their life/professions/behaviors outside of the actual so-called villainous acts. It was miserable to read after the first chapter, though I forced myself through Chapter 4 hoping it would get better. It didn't. I actually didn't care about the use of vulgarities one way or the other. Were they overdone? Yes. Was that part of the author's schtick? Yes. It was the unexpected judgment placed on these women from a book touted as feminist that turned me off completely making this one of the very few books ever that I have DNF'd and have no desire to go back and finish.