History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

The Female Tudor Scholar and Writer: The Life and Times of Margaret More Roper Author: Aimee Fleming Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: Pen & Sword History  Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 207 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: A presentation of Margaret More Roper, an accomplished writer whose life offers insight into Tudor England and the English Reformation. Margaret More Roper may be remembered as the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas More, but she was much, much more. Well-educated, loyal, passionately pious, and a skilled writer and translator, Margaret inspired a generation and proved to Tudor England and beyond just how accomplished a woman could be. Her life provides a window into the turbulent times of the English Reformation and life at the court of King Henry VIII. In this biography, Margaret is presented in her own right and given the attention and acknowledgement she so richly deserves.     ...

Anne Neville: Queen and Wife to Richard III  Author: Rebecca Batley Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: Pen & Sword History  Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 256 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Anne Neville, often seen as a victim depicted by Shakespeare, was a powerful and influential figure in medieval England. Daughter, Wife, Princess, Widow and Queen: Anne Neville had many faces. Shakespeare presents her to us as a woman consumed with rage, bitterness and grief. He has her cursing the killer of her husband and father, before marrying him and condemning herself to despair. She rages, screams and weeps but ultimately she is shown as nothing more than a passive victim of the men who used and exploited her. This could not be further from the truth. Born into one of the most powerful dynasties in medieval England, Anne knew her worth, and her power. She was a great survivor escaping the tide of blood that consumed Eng...

Martha Washington: An American Life Author: Patricia Brady Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: Penguin Books Publication Date: 2006 Pages: 280 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: With this revelatory and painstakingly researched book, Martha Washington, the invisible woman of American history, at last gets the biography she deserves.          In place of the domestic frump of popular imagination, Patricia Brady resurrects the wealthy, attractive, and vivacious young widow who captivated the youthful George Washington. Here are the able landowner, the indomitable patriot (who faithfully joined her husband each winter at Valley Forge), and the shrewd diplomat and emotional mainstay. And even as it brings Martha Washington into sharper and more accurate focus, this sterling life sheds light on her marriage, her society, and the precedents she established for future First Ladies.        My Revie...

Sarah Siddons: The First Celebrity Actress Author: Jo Willett Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: Pen and Sword History  Publication Date: 2024 Pages: 224 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Sarah Siddons rose from a poor, traveling actor to Britain's greatest tragic actress by overcoming early career failures, becoming a superstar by her 30s, and skillfully managing her image and reputation in the eighteenth century.        Sarah Siddons grew up as a member of a family troupe of travelling actors, always poor and often hungry, resorting to foraging for turnips to eat. But before she was 30 she had become a superstar, her fees greater than any actor - male or female - had previously achieved.        Her rise was not easy. Her London debut, aged just 20, was a disaster and could have condemned her to poverty and anonymity. But the young actress – already a mo...

The Mysterious Life of Mrs. Nixson: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady Author: Heath Hardage Lee Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 403 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: A new, revolutionary look into the brilliant life of Pat Nixon.        In America’s collective consciousness, Pat Nixon has long been perceived as enigmatic. She was voted “Most Admired Woman in the World” in 1972 and made Gallup Poll’s top ten list of most admired women fourteen times. She survived the turmoil of the Watergate scandal with her popularity and dignity intact. The real Pat Nixon, however, bore little resemblance to the woman so often described as elusive, mysterious and “plastic” in the press. Pat married Richard Nixon in June of 1940. As the couple rose to prominence, Pat became Second Lady from 1953-1961 and then First Lady from 1969-1974...

Sacagawea: Westward with Lewis and Clark Author: Alana White Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: Atmosphere Press Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 91 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: A young Shoshone woman. A small baby. A gigantic dog. A journey like no other.       In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead an expedition across the western United States to the Pacific Ocean. To communicate with the Native peoples they would encounter, they engaged a young Shoshone woman called Sacagawea to accompany them. Sacagawea’s knowledge of the West allowed them to trade for food and supplies and request help when desperately needed.       In Sacagawea: Westward with Lewis and Clark , Alana White explores the life and times of this fascinating woman. In their journals, Lewis and Clark describe Sacagawea as calm, courageous, and uncompl...

The Northwomen: Untold Stories from the Other Half of the Viking World Author: Heather Pringle Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: National Geographic Digital Book Release Date: 2025 Pages: 389 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: For fans of provocative history and "Game of Thrones" alike, this revisionist narrative reveals how the little-known women of the Viking era shaped their world.       Until Scandinavia converted to Christianity and came under the rule of powerful kings, the Vikings were a dominant force in the medieval world. Outfitted with wind-powered sailing ships, they left their mark, spreading terror across Europe, sacking cities, deposing kings, and ransacking entire economies. After the Vikings, the world was never the same.       But as much as we know about this celebrated culture, there is a large missing piece: its women. All but ignored by contemporar...

The Queen’s Hand: Power and Authority in the Reign of Berenguela of Castile  Author: Janna Bianchini Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press Book Release Date: 2012 Pages: 363 Source: Personal Collection  Synopsis: Her name is undoubtedly less familiar than that of her grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, or that of her famous conqueror son, Fernando III, yet during her lifetime, Berenguela of Castile (1180-1246) was one of the most powerful women in Europe. As queen-consort of Alfonso IX of León, she acquired the troubled boundary lands between the kingdoms of Castile and León and forged alliances with powerful nobles on both sides. Even after her marriage was dissolved, she continued to strengthen these connections as a member of her father's court. On her brother's death, she inherited the Castilian throne outright—and then, remarkably, elevated her son to kingship at the same time. Using her assiduously cultivated alliances, B...

Kateryn Parr: Henry VIII’s Sixth Queen Author: Laura Adkins Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: Pen and Sword History  Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 185 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Kateryn Parr is mainly remembered today as being the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, the one who 'survived'. Kateryn was not only a wife but a queen, mother, reformer, and author. Kateryn would face a number of events in her lifetime including being held to ransom during the Pilgrimage of Grace, being placed as regent while Henry was in France, a role which only one of his five previous wives held, her namesake Katherine of Aragon, and overcame a plot which would have led to her arrest and execution. While Queen she was able to unite the Tudor family and establish some form of happiness for Henry VIII's three children. Raised by her mother Maud Parr, under a humanist education, Kateryn was intelligent enough to understand her role in life...

The Girl from Botany Bay Author: Carolly Erickson  Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: Trade Paper Books Book Release Date: 2008 Pages: 252 Source: Personal Collection  Synopsis: On a moonless night in the early 1790s, prisoner Mary Bryant, her husband William, her two small children, and seven other convicts stole a twenty-foot longboat and slipped noiselessly out of Sydney Cove, Australia, eluding their captors. They sailed north, all the way to Indonesia, traveling some thirty-six hundred treacherous miles in ten weeks—an incredible feat of seamanship. For a time, Mary and her companions were able to convince the local Dutch colonial authorities that they were survivors of a shipwreck, but eventually the truth emerged and they found themselves back in captivity, in irons, on their way to England for execution.       In time, Mary's fateful journey would win her tremendous admiration. A woman once reviled as a criminal w...