Review by Choice Review
Splendidly written, a pleasure to read, this ambitious project of ten years' collaboration is an outstanding compilation of the impressive Annales approach to women's history. There is no comparable study encompassing its scope and scale. The authors treat ordinary and extraordinary women in a fresh and novel thematic scheme, shaped by women's concerns and experiences rather than the traditional outline of Western civilization. Contending that gender rather than religion, class, nationality, or ethnicity has determined the lives of European women, the authors add substance to the claim that men's historical zeniths are too often the nadirs of women's history. The work concentrates on Europe proper from the ninth century to the present, but there is an excellent five-chapter synopsis of the roots of European culture that traces societal expectations of women and their demonstrated experience before 800 CE. Beginning in prehistoric cultures, archaeological and anthropoligical evidence are combined with the historical record of Greek, Hebrew, Roman, Christian, and Germanic civilizations to serve as the foundation of European history. Nine sections treat individual themes in a wide-ranging geographic and chronological scope. In "Women of the Fields" for instance, six centuries of the historical record speak to the constant common experience of European women in the rural setting. This is a rich, exciting, and logical alternative to the great-ages-of-man approach. The 875 pages of text are supported with 160 pages of helpful notes and a 44-page combined bibliography of predominantly English-language articles and books, and a thorough index. The illustrations are mediocre, a small fault in such an otherwise flawless enterprise. Highly recommended for libraries at all levels. J. E. Brink Texas Tech University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Combining superb scholarship and sheer readability, this is a revelatory, much-needed survey of women in European history. Women took to the barricades in the uprisings of 1848, defending short-lived republics in Paris, Vienna, Rome, Berlin. Names like Black Anna and Jeanne Hachette attest to the prominent roles women played in peasant revolts, bread riots and union organizing. Thousands of female Soviet soldiers saw active combat and helped defeat Hitler. Women in the Middle Ages and Renaissance were troubadours, courtiers, singers, composers, writers; excluded from men's painter guilds, women found ways to practice art. All these accomplishments were achieved under the double burden women facehousehold chores plus the need to earn additional money for one's family. The authorsAnderson teaches at Brooklyn College, Zinsser teaches at the U.N. International Schoolfocus on the centuries after 1600 and end with a responsible history of feminism in its mainstream, socialist and lesbian varieties. Reading this book is an education. Photos. (October) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This full-scale history of Europe by two feminist historians emphasizes women's common experiences and discards the usual framework of periodization in this fresh look at events running from the earliest times through the 17th century. It weaves together accounts of known catastrophes and events with childbirth, religion, and women's work. Specific details, skillfully drawn from literature and art and recent scholarship on families and communities, bring this history to life. An important introductory text for students and the general reader. There will be a second volume. Mary Drake McFeely, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In this first of a projected two volumes, Anderson (History/Brooklyn College) and Zinsser (Humanities/U.N. International School) draw on the recent outpouring of scholarly research on women's history to reconstruct the lives and contributions of European women from prehistory to the 17th century. Contending that ""gender has been the most important factor in restricting women"" into ""a separate caste"" that spans the ages and transcends national boundaries, the authors eschew the usual organization into eras and nationalities, organizing their material according to four major categories that once delineated women's roles: the peasantry, the church, the nobility/landed class, and the walled towns. Throughout, they find evidence that women, with some spectacular exceptions (e.g., Catherine of Aragon, Joan of Arc) were defined by their kinship to men and were subordinate to them. A peasant wife usually carried more than her fair share of the struggle for survival. She was expected to bear stalwart sons (girl babies were frequently killed) and to tend the hearth and participate in tilling and harvesting; and she also frequently brought in needed cash by sales of livestock she reared and butter, cheese, and woven goods she produced. Although both the Catholic and Protestant churches owed much to the early organizing and proselytizing of women, men soon became dominant. Many queens and noblewomen, however, ran kingdoms, duchies, or estates when their husbands were off soldiering. Yet they were expected to be obedient and subordinate to their spouses. Some women escaped the mold: until 16th century, women dominated the medical profession as midwives and surgeon barbers; many also wrote works of literature, history, and philosphy; and several were successful artists. Documented in almost mind-numbing detail, this study makes for heavy slogging--but for those interested in women's history, the effort is worth it. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
