From Eve to Dawn, A History of Women in the World, Volume II: The Masculine Mystique: From Feudalism to the French Revolution 2

Analyzing feudalism in Europe and Japan and European expropriation of lands and peoples across the globe, Marilyn French poses a provocative question: how and why did women, with no power or independence, nourish and preserve the family unit and their own culture? **Marilyn French**’s __The Women’s Room__ crystallized the issues that ignited the women’s movement and was translated into twenty languages. She received her PhD from Harvard and taught English at Hofstra University, Harvard University, and Holy Cross College. Internationally acclaimed author and critic **Margaret Atwood** is the author of numerous works of fiction, including __The Handmaid’s Tale__ and __The Blind Assassin__.

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 Analyzing feudalism in Europe and Japan and European expropriation of lands and peoples across the globe, Marilyn French poses a provocative question: how and why did women, with no power or independence, nourish and preserve the family unit and their own culture? Marilyn French ’s The Women’s Room crystallized the issues that ignited the women’s movement and was translated into twenty languages. She received her PhD from Harvard and taught English at Hofstra University, Harvard University, and Holy Cross College. Internationally acclaimed author and critic Margaret Atwood is the author of numerous works of fiction, including The Handmaid’s Tale and The Blind Assassin . 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 *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. Present 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