Women’s History

Women’s History

The authors of these important and informative volumes, Bonnie S. Anderson, a historian at Brooklyn College, and Judith P. Zinsser, a member of the humanities department of the United Nations International School, came to their task because of the disparity between their traditional training in European history, which omitted the history and activities of women, and their own growing knowledge of women’s history. They decided to synthesize recent scholarship in women’s history in order “to counter the subtly denigrating myth that women either ‘have no history’ or have achieved little worthy of inclusion in the historical record…”

They have succeeded admirably. Their book is interesting and well-based in representative scholarship in European women’s history. It is an excellent introduction to the subject of European women’s history. While offering a broad overview, the authors also stress a few major themes, such as class differences, women’s power and influence, and women’s struggle against misogyny. Last, but by no means least, they introduce the reader to a fascinating array of individual women, some well known, but mostly not, whom anyone would find worth knowing.

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