Historical Heroines

From Mata Hari and Pocahontas to Lucrezia Borgia and Hedy Lamarr—fascinating portraits of history’s most unforgettable, and some unjustly forgotten, women. Cleopatra. Audrey Hepburn. Sappho. Calamity Jane. Marie Antoinette. Lilith. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Dame Emma Hamilton. Mary Shelley. Mary Frith. Some are celebrated in folklore legend; some are remembered only as movie stars; many will be familiar in their native countries; while others are, for the most part, unjustly unknown. Not anymore. Let this rewarding anthology set the record straight on: World War I heroine and nurse Edith Cavell; turn of the century Iñupiat explorer Ada Blackjack; eighteenth-century abolitionist, slave, and women’s rights pioneer Soujourner Truth; Gorgo, 480 BC Queen of Sparta; Agent 355, the American Revolution’s most mysterious spy; nineteenth-century socialite and archaeologist Lady Hester Stanhope; eighteenth-century Irish physician Margaret Bulky who plied her trade by passing as a man for fifty years; and many, many more adventurers, leaders, and freedom fighters—each and every one, a groundbreaker whose name deserves a place in history.

As a leading historian of women, Linda K. Kerber has played an instrumental role in the radical rethinking of American history over the past two decades. The maturation and increasing complexity of studies in women's history are widely recognized, and in this remarkable collection of essays, Kerber's essential contribution to the field is made clear. In this volume is gathered some of Kerber's finest work. Ten essays address the role of women in early American history, and more broadly in intellectual and cultural history, and explore the rhetoric of historiography. In the chronological arrangement of the pieces, she starts by including women in the history of the Revolutionary era, then makes the transforming discovery that gender is her central subject, the key to understanding the social relation of the sexes and the cultural discourse of an age. From that fundamental insight follows Kerber's sophisticated contributions to the intellectual history of women. Prefaced with an eloquent and personal introduction, an account of the formative and feminist influences in the author's ongoing education, these writings illustrate the evolution of a vital field of inquiry and trace the intellectual development of one of its leading scholars.

100 Canadian Heroines profiles some remarkable women from the adventurous Gudridur the Viking to murdered Mi'kmaq activist Anna Mae Aquash. You'll meet heroines in science, sport, preaching and teaching, politics, war and peace, arts and entertainment, etc. The book is full of amazing facts and fascinating trivia about intriguing figures like mountaineer Phyllis Munday, activist Hide Shimizu, Arctic guide Tookoolito, unionist Léa Roback, sexy movie mogul Mary Pickford and singer Portia White. Great quotes and photos are featured in this inspiring collection. As we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Persons Case on October 18, 2004, discover some of the many heroines Canada can be proud of. Find out how we're remembering them. Or not!

"This is a fascinating comparison of the histories of Ontario and Quebec as seen through the handling of their best-known heroines. Most Canadians are familiar with stories of Madeleine de Vercheres defending Montreal against the Iroquois in 1692 and of Laura Secord and her cow bravely crossing the American lines to warn the British during the War of 1812.

Colorful biographical sketches of 10 famous women in history.

How will you color these 31 portraits of women, from the 18th and 19th centuries, who passionately pursued their talents in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics? Included are illustrations by Kendra Shedenhelm and short biographies written by award-winning author Elizabeth Lorayne.