From Eve to Dawn, a History of Women in the World, Volume I: Origins: From Prehistory to the First Millennium: 1

“[Marilyn French] draws on a vast body of research and help from consultants in all sorts of fields, to open out areas that are rarely accessible.”—__Guardian__ “As a reference work it’s invaluable: the bibliographies alone are worth the price. And as a warning about the appalling extremes of human behavior and male weirdness, it’s indispensable.”—Margaret Atwood, __The Times__ (London) In her powerful and bold writing style, best-selling author Marilyn French synthesizes women’s history from our pre-historical roots through the rise of states across the globe to the onset of state-backed religions in this first of four readable volumes. Content: V. 1: Origins -- The mothers -- The fathers -- State formulation in Peru, Egypt, and Sumer -- A secular state: China -- A religious state: India -- A militaristic state: Mexico -- Conclusion: An analysis of the state -- Judaism -- Greece -- Rome -- Christianity -- Islam -- v. 2: The masculine mystique -- Introduction -- Feudalism in Europe -- Feudalism in Japan -- Control tightens in Europe -- European appropriation of Africa -- European appropriation of Latin America -- European appropriation of North America -- Black experience in North America -- The French Revolution -- v. 3: Infernos and paradises, the triumph of capitalism in the 19th century -- Introduction -- Imperialism in Africa -- Industrialization -- Utopianism and socialism -- Middle-class women in England -- Middle-class women in the United States before the Civil War -- The Civil War and its aftermath -- Woman suffrage in the United States and Great Britain -- Labor movements -- The war against women -- v. 4: Revolutions and the struggles for justice in the 20th century -- Introduction -- Socialism in Europe -- Revolution in Russia -- Revolution in China -- Fascist revolution in Germany and Italy -- Anti-imperial revolution in Latin America -- Anti-imperial revolution in India -- Anti-imperial revolution in Algeria -- Anti-imperial revolution in Africa -- Women and development -- The history of feminism -- The political is personal, the personal is political -- The future of feminism.

a Readable Guide To The Beginnings Of Women's History, From The Best-selling Author Marilyn French.

publishers Weekly

in Her Foreword To This First Volume Of A Four-volume Work, Atwood Writes That Women Are Not A Footnote To History, But Rather The Necessary Center Around Which The Wheel Of Power Revolves. That Is The View That Novelist And Memoirist French (the Women's Room) Satisfyingly Supports. As In Any Survey, Much Of This Volume Reads Schematically (for 99 Percent Of Hominid And Human Existence, People Lived In Egalitarian Matricentry), And Like Many Historians, French Has An Agenda-but She Backs Up Even Her More Controversial Theories With An Impressive Accumulation Of Academically Accepted Historical, Anthropological And Sociological Sources. French Covers Her Material Vividly As She Discusses The Formation Of The Gendered State In Peru, Egypt, Sumer And China And Then Surveys The Differences Between The Formation Of Secular And Religious States. The Volume Ends With A Detailed Analysis Of The Position Of Women In Early Judaism, Christianity And Islam, And It's Here That French's Precise Methodology Really Comes To Life, Though Some Will Debate Her Interpretations. Written In Concise, Understated Language, This Is A Significant Addition To Literature On Women's Studies And History. (may)

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acclaimed Author Marilyn French Creates A Lively Women's History Of Imperialism, Industrialization, And Women's Rights.

publishers Weekly

in The Third Volume Of Her Remarkable Four-volume Survey, French (the Women's Room) Illuminates How The Industrial Revolution Worked Against Women Over The Course Of The 19th Century. French Begins With Imperialism In Africa, Documenting The Introduction Of Slavery And Industrialization That Would Decimate Traditional African Society-including Active And Powerful Positions Traditionally Held By Women, Who Today Are Still Threatened By The Slave Trade. In Europe And America, The Industrial Revolution Offered For Many Family-bound Young Women A Chance At Freedom And Camaraderie-but Only Through Exploitative, Dangerous Work In Poor Conditions And For Menial Pay. Even Then, The Patriarchic Society Worked To Keep Women And Children From Any Kind Of Economic Or Political Freedom. At The Same Time, Oppression Only Drove Female Workers Closer Together; With Fellow Suffering Came Organization, Strength And Ultimately A Push For Labor Reform And Women's Rights. French's Well-researched Account Spans The Globe And Offers Fascinating Insight And Detail; Unfortunately, It Loses Steam As It Progresses, Cruising Through The Labor And Women's Rights Movements In Typical Textbook Fashion.
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women's Struggles During Social And Economic Revolutions In The 20th And 21st Centuries By Acclaimed Feminist.

publishers Weekly

starred Review.

in The Final Installment Of Her Four-volume Feminist History, French Gratifies Readers With An All-encompassing View Of Women's Major And Minor 20th Century Victories From All Corners Of The Globe. French Honors Both Male And Female Leaders, Locating Feminist Uprisings In Such Unexpected Places As Turkey, Where Reformist President Mustapha Kemal Accepted Women In His Army And Appeared In Public With His Educated Wife Unveiled. With Patience, Research And An Extraordinary Sense Of Scale, French Examines The Effects That The Current Major Forms Of Government Have Had On Women Throughout The Centuries, And Correlates Those Findings With The Current Social And Political Moment In Locations Throughout The World. She Also Tackles The Subjects Of Religion And War, Which She Claims Are The Two Modern Forms Of Patriarchy-men's Way Of Successfully Dominating Not Just Women But Other Men. Her Most Curious And Insightful Volume, This Book Leaves No Angle Unexplored. Though Often Wordy, French Offers A Striking Overview Of Feminist Theory And Action Alongside Views Uniquely Her Own, Polishing Off An Exquisite History Useful For Both Personal And Classroom Study.
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women's History From Europe To Japan, From The Fifth Century To The Nineteenth.

publishers Weekly

this Second Of Four Volumes, Moves Quickly From Feudalism To The French Revolution. Firmly Rooted In More Modern History, Novelist And Scholar French (the Women's Room) Writes Less Theoretically And More Concretely Than In Volume 1. Beautifully Sourced And Referenced, The Book Shows, For Instance, That In The 1400s Protestant And Catholic Theologians Transformed Marriage From A Private Arrangement Into A Complex Public Ceremony That Granted Men More Power. Women Came To Have Less And Less Say In When And Whom They Would Wed. Discussing The Colonization Of Africa, French Illustrates How Traditional, More Egalitarian African Gender Roles Were Altered Under European Property-based, Christian Social Structures. French Also Begins To Focus On How Female Sexuality Was Interpreted By A Male-dominated Culture. Marie Antoinette, For Example, Was Convicted And Executed Not Only For Supporting Her Husband But For Sexually Corrupting The Dauphin And Thus The Body Politic. Filled With Fascinating Detail And Powerful Arguments, This Second Volume Of French's Massive And Valuable Work Is An Example Of Scholarship And Clear Vision. (may)

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“Filled with fascinating detail... this second volume of French's massive and valuable work is an example of scholarship and clear vision.” —Publishers Weekly This volume of New York Times–bestselling author Marilyn French's monumental history analyzes and evaluates the lives of women in societies around the world between feudal times and the French Revolution. Drawing upon fifteen years of collaboration with a team of researchers and prominent historians, the volume opens with fascinating chapters comparing medieval Europe and Japan, disparate cultures which nevertheless shared traditions of male dominated aggression and competitiveness. French then shows how, in Europe, this tradition led to colonialism and imperialism, and the horrific subjugation of indigenous societies, just as women were subjugated in the conquerors'home countries. As French makes clear in this impassioned women's history, only with the French Revolution did the political force women exerted powerfully change the course of history. “French gives us grand theory at its best, wading through copious amounts of scholarly data on the histories of civilizations and offering up, in readable prose, an important synthesis.” —Library Journal Filled with fascinating detail . . . this second volume of Frenchs massive and valuable work is an example of scholarship and clear vision. Publishers Weekly This volume of New York Times bestselling author Marilyn Frenchs monumental history analyzes and evaluates the lives of women in societies around the world between feudal times and the French Revolution. Drawing upon fifteen years of collaboration with a team of researchers and prominent historians, the volume opens with fascinating chapters comparing medieval Europe and Japan, disparate cultures which nevertheless shared traditions of male dominated aggression and competitiveness. French then shows how, in Europe, this tradition led to colonialism and imperialism, and the horrific subjugation of indigenous societies, just as women were subjugated in the conquerors home countries. As French makes clear in this impassioned womens history, only with the French Revolution did the political force women exerted powerfully change the course of history. French gives us grand theory at its best, wading through copious amounts of scholarly data on the histories of civilizations and offering up, in readable prose, an important synthesis. Library Journal The first volume of the New York Times–bestselling author's monumental and unprecedented history: “Consistently thought-provoking” (The New York Review of Books). The internationally celebrated author of The Women's Room, Marilyn French spent over fifteen years with a team of researchers and prominent historians examining women's lives and activities in civilizations and societies spanning the ages. Beginning in prehistory, Origins moves on to examine women's lives in ancient Egypt, China, India, Peru, Mexico, Greece, and Rome. In her reconstruction of wars, laws, and other activities affecting both women and men, French also traces the worldviews underpinning them. She also depicts how women's relationship to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam changed for good and bad over the centuries. “She backs up even her more controversial theories with an impressive accumulation of academically accepted historical, anthropological and sociological sources... Written in concise, understated language, this is a significant addition to literature on women's studies and history.” —Publishers Weekly The first volume of the New York Times bestselling authors monumental and unprecedented Consistently thought-provoking ( The New York Review of Books ). The internationally celebrated author of The Womens Room , Marilyn French spent over fifteen years with a team of researchers and prominent historians examining womens lives and activities in civilizations and societies spanning the ages. Beginning in prehistory, Origins moves on to examine womens lives in ancient Egypt, China, India, Peru, Mexico, Greece, and Rome. In her reconstruction of wars, laws, and other activities affecting both women and men, French also traces the worldviews underpinning them. She also depicts how womens relationship to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam changed for good and bad over the centuries. She backs up even her more controversial theories with an impressive accumulation of academically accepted historical, anthropological and sociological sources . . . Written in concise, understated language, this is a significant addition to literature on womens studies and history. Publishers Weekly From the New York Times–bestselling author: “A rare find: a page-turning, can't-put-it-down history text.” —Library Journal Writing about what she calls the “most cheering period in female history,” Marilyn French recounts how nineteenth-century women living under imperialism, industrialization, and capitalism nonetheless organized for their own education, a more equitable wage, and the vote. Focusing on the United States, Great Britain, and countries in Africa, French argues that capitalism's success depended on the exploitation and enslavement of huge numbers, including women, but the act of working outside the home alongside other women, rather than in isolation, provided women with the possibility of organizing for emancipation. “The third volume of her remarkable four-volume survey... fascinating insight and detail.” —Publishers Weekly The conclusion of the “remarkable” four-volume history by the New York Times–bestselling author of The Women's Room (Publishers Weekly). In the twentieth century, women became a force for change, in part through suffrage, and in part through mass organizing. This final volume of Marilyn French's wide-ranging survey offers a vibrant history of multiple political revolutions as well as the century's horrors—including genocides and the atom bomb. It ends with a thoughtful investigation into the various indigenous feminist movements throughout the world and asks what these peaceful revolutions might augur for the future. Eschewing easy answers, French suggests that the defining moral moments of the twenty-first century should, and will, build from a global human rights agenda. “[Marilyn French] draws on a vast body of research and help from consultants in all sorts of fields, to open out areas that are rarely accessible.”— Guardian “As a reference work it’s invaluable: the bibliographies alone are worth the price. And as a warning about the appalling extremes of human behavior and male weirdness, it’s indispensable.”—Margaret Atwood, The Times (London) In her powerful and bold writing style, best-selling author Marilyn French synthesizes women’s history from our pre-historical roots through the rise of states across the globe to the onset of state-backed religions in this first of four readable volumes. The issues [French] raises cannot be ignored. . . . No history you will read, post-French, will ever look the same again. The Times (London) From the author of The Womens Room , the best-selling novel that defined the issues that ignited the womens movement, comes a vibrant history of the political revolutions of the twentieth century, ending with a thoughtful investigation into feminist movements throughout the world and into the future. Marilyn French received her PhD from Harvard and taught at Harvard University and Holy Cross College. Margaret Atwood is best known for her novels The Handmaids Tale and The Blind Assassin . Praise for the previous volumes: French gives us grand theory at its best. . . . Highly recommended. Library Journal Beautifully sourced and referenced. . . . Filled with fascinating detail and powerful arguments . . . massive and valuable. Publishers Weekly Writing about what she calls the most cheering period in female history, international best-selling author Marilyn French recounts how nineteenth century women living under imperialism, industrialization, and capitalism organized for their own education, a more equitable wage, and the vote. The volume opens with chapters comparing medieval Europe and Japan, disparate cultures which nevertheless shared traditions of male dominated aggression and competitiveness. The author then shows how, in Europe, this tradition led to colonialism and imperialism, and the subjugation of indigenous societies, just as women were subjugated in the conquerors' home countries. Only with the French Revolution did the political force women exerted powerfully change the course of history This final volume describes the impact of the political revolutions, genocides, the atom bomb and the various indigenious feminist movements throughout the world on the position of women world wide. She also reflects on the future of feminism. Titel op omslag: From Eve to dawn : a history of women in the world, volume IV: Revolutions and the struggles for justice in the 20th century *Origins* is the first of four volumes of a momental, readable, and unprecedented history of women throughout the world. The internationally celebrated author of *The Women's Room*, Marilyn French, spent over fifteen years with a team of researchers and prominent historians examining women's lives and activities in civilizations and societies spanning the ages. Presents a history of women from prehistoric times up to the present day, examining the changing roles of women in different ages, and covering such topics as work, marriage, family, sex roles, religion, and poltics An eminently readable-- and revolutionary-- four-volume history of women. It runs from prehistory to the present day, and covers the entire globe