Herstory : Women Who Changed The World

by Ruth Ashby (Editor), Deborah Gore Ohrn (Editor), Gloria Steinem (Introduction)

Women have long have been portrayed as sitting on the sidelines of history. Now 150 biographic sketches shed new light on such familiar figures as the Bronte sisters and Clara Barton, while revealing the rarely studied yet remarkable achievements of women warriors. Historical essays place these women in the context of their times, while sidebars highlight women's wit, wisdom, and inventions on all frontiers, from science to fashion.

Queen Hatshepsut --
Sappho --
Aspasia --
Cleopatra --
The Trung sisters --
Boudica --
Hypatia --
Empress Theodora --
Wu Chao --
Murasaki Shikibu --
Sultana Razia --
Christine de Pizan --
Joan of Arc --
Queen Isabella I --
La Malinche --
Catherine de Médicis --
Queen Elizabeth I --
Mary Queen of Scots --
Artemisia Gentileschi --
Judith Leyster --
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz --
Catherine the Great --
Mary Wollstonecraft --
Deborah Sampson --
Jane Austen --
Emma Willard --
Sacajawea --
Sarah Grimké and Angelina Grimké --
La Pola --
Sojourner Truth --
Catharine Beecher --
Dorothea Dix --
Margaret Fuller Harriet Beecher Stowe --
Harriet Tubman --
Elizabeth Cady Stanton --
Charlotte Brontë and Emily Brontë --
Maria Mitchell --
Clara Schumann --
Queen Victoria --
Susan B. Anthony --
Florence Nightingale --
Elizabeth Blackwell --
Clara Barton --
Antoinette Brown Blackwell --
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones --
Lakshmi Bai --
Emily Dickinson --
Louisa May Alcott --
Tz'u-hsi --
Queen Liliuokalani --
Sarah Bernhardt --
Mary Cassatt --
Sarah Winnemucca --
Carry Nation --
Louisa Lawson --
Olive Schreiner --
Fannie Farmer --
Charlotte Perkins Gilman --
Jane Addams --
Ida B. Wells --
Beatrix Potter --
Marie Curie --
Sophia Hayden --
Alexandra David-Neel --
Emma Goldman --
Rosa Luxemburg --
Maria Montessori --
Alexandra Kollontai --
Qiu Jin --
Mary McLeod Bethune --
Huda Shaarawi --
Margaret Sanger --
Helen Keller --
Anna Pavlova --
Virginia Woolf --
Rose Schneiderman --
Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel --
Eleanor Roosevelt --
Georgia O'Keeffe --
Gabriela Mistral --
Ichikawa Fusae --
Bessie Smith --
Martha Graham --
Marian Anderson --
Amelia Earhart --
Golda Meir --
Zora Neale Hurston --
Margaret Mead --
Margaret Bourke-White --
Greta Garbo --
Frida Kahlo --
Rachel Carson --
Simone de Beauvoir --Mother Teresa --
Mildred "Babe" Didrikson --
Mary Leakey --
Indira Gandhi --
Jessie Lopez De La Cruz --
Eva Perón --
Betty Friedan --
Diane Arbus --
Shirley Chisholm --
Margaret Thatcher --
Nguyen Thi Binh --
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis --
Violeta Chamorro --
Toni Morrison --
Corazon Aquino --
Barbara Jordan --
Valentina Tereshkova --
Marian Wright Edelman --
Wilma Rudolph --
Billie Jean King --
Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams --
Antonia Novello --
Aung San Suu Kyi --
Wilma Mankiller --
Eka Esu-Williams --
Rigoberta Menchú

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Feminism, Biography, Womens Studies, Biography Memoir, Essays

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1995

Reviews

[Bre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great starting point for further research into the lives of some amazing women. I read it with my 6 year old daughter (I pre-read each chapter and streamlined it to make it understandable for a child), and she selected several women about whom she wanted to learn more.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well the writing wasn't always amazing quality, I feel the subject matter of this book is so important as to still rate five stars. I loved learning about the lives of many inspiring women.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook Up the World by Katherine Halligan, illustrated by Sarah Walsh. 112 pages. NON-FICTION Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2018. $20.

Content: Language: G; Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG-13.

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Fifty women from around the world and throughout history are represented in this anthology. The women are organized into five different categories, including leaders, artists, healers, scientists and those who inspire us by overcoming hardship. I enjoyed each page spread as it explains their contribution as well as the major events in their life. The illustrations are the best part and are mixed with photographs when available.

As far as anthologies go, this is well done. It is attractive and encompasses a lot of women that are sometimes overlooked. That said, it’s large and bulky and I’m unsure if kids will pick it up to read it for fun, but it would be great to use in the classroom. The content is in no way gratuitously graphic, but does include the mention of child brides, a baby being murdered and a young girl being sexually assaulted.

Reviewer, C. Peterson
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2019...

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It amazes me that the many important contributions of these women have been largely left out of history books. It makes me wonder how many more are missing. Troubling, indeed...

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding this book was another serendipitous experience--being at the library for another book and seeing this one. It is a terrific book. I learned so much about so many incredible women.

[Chy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read about some incredible women that are left out of history classes. Highly recommended!

[Sarah Dunmire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Gloria Steinem’s quote from a button in the introduction sums up my feelings as I read this book: “The truth will set you free. But first, it will make you mad.” Inspiration, sadness, and anger are definitely things I felt reading about the accomplishments of these great women throughout history. About 2-3 pages per person but a good amount of information on each. These are women throughout history, around the world, and in a variety of disciplines like royalty, science, sports, arts, humanitarianism, and feminism. A great collection.

[K Steward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable review of important women throughout written history, artists, politicians, etc. Many of them very important but omitted from history books. Entries are well-written but fairly brief, so it's easy to read just a few pages at a time. A little dated (published in 1995), so many of the more recent entries have passed since the book was published. (I ended up looking up many to find date of death.)

[OliviaS706 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book because there were some women I hadn’t heard of, or I didn’t know that much about. It’s extremely convenient to be able to look at compressed stories that were 2 pages long but still hold a lot of information. I think this was written well, as well as narrated at a nice pace.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published 30 years ago, so obviously it was a bit dated. Still, it has some fascinating introductions to women in history that most of us have no clue existed. Not only that, many readers may not even know that the conflicts and causes these women fought for existed. This is a great starting point to see what grabs your attention for further study and exploration.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

To read quick biographies of women who have made a difference in the world, pick up this book and browse it. It covers politicians, athletes, entertainers, social reformers, scientists, and other types of women who made their mark in their own time. Not all of them were notable for doing good; a few, especially in the ancient world, became famous for their bloody reigns or their tyrannical practices.

Occasionally the authors who contributed research and writing to the book tend let their political opinions peek into the biographies and can get a little preachy about their positions; but overall, it’s a great book to read if you’re interested in characters in history or in learning more about famous women.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a lot of women in this book that I never even heard of. But I know of some of their accomplishments. Most of these women have guts and brains. Something we were thought not to have. Some of these women got married and had kids, but not all of them. Women can be doctors and Senators and revolutionaries. Some of these stories are sad, because the changes these women fought for and achieved were reversed upon their deaths. Not all of them, of course, but enough to make you mad. Very interesting read! :)

[ladywallingford · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up originally to learn about obscure women throughout history that I didn't know existed. I knew of a good number in it but there were some that I didn't. For that reason, it did fulfill my original purpose; however, reading through the book sometimes could be excruciating. Each woman had a little essay dedicated to them. Most of them lacked...something...plus, some of the paragraphs just didn't flow together within the essays.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend taking the time to read it. I couldn't wait to finish.

[Paul Rubio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of good profiles on accomplished women throughout history. It did have bit of a biased feminist touch, but certainly the authors wanted to expound the point of women's overlooked, underestimated accomplishments. I learned about a whole lot of women who did extraordinary things. (This was a good summer read for the summer of 2009 for me.)

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice perspective on women's history and many of those who worked so hard to make a difference for all of us. Quite a few are people I had never heard of, some are people I had only a passing awareness of, and some like Mother Teresa are well-known. It was a nice bridge between some heavy reading pieces without being either too light or too heavy.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about some of the women who contributed greatly to the history of the world. Some are well-known, while others are finally getting their due. While not in-depth , one gets an overall picture of each woman presented. All students of history - particularly girls and women - should check this book out!

[Heila · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is such an absence of women in history books, this one helped to fill in those gaps. Yes, it's tone and perspective is a little skewed (towards feminism), but a little not a lot. I enjoyed finding out about women in many disciplines and their achievements and contributions.

[Julia B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really cool, it was all about the lives and acolplishments of important woman in history. I liked being able to read small sections of the book person by person it was really cool. I would reccomend this book to anyone who doesn't mind a long read.

[Caroline]

Short, 2 page max blurbs about influential womens' lives.

[Fatima]

Quince Orchard Library. R J 920.72 HER 1 Reference Material REF-J

[Olean Public Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Most interesting stories about women who shaped this country.

[Susan Roden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated, but interesting

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to have for a quick read on women who have made a difference in history. Has some pictures; quick bios are usually about a page and a half long.

[Elizabeth (Thoughts From an Evil Overlord) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource for any library and a wonderfully interesting read.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a new book; I have had it for years and enjoy reading it time and again.

[Breana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two Words: Girl Power!!!

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this collection!
LOVE the size and format
Vert easy to read
Motivating