About this Book

Integrating the discoveries of the new feminist scholarship with the main themes of Western civilization, this volume puts women back into history. From Italy to Kenya, from Britain to Russia, the text examines the impact of religious reformation, political centralization, scientific, industrial, and political revolutions, world markets, and welfare states on women of diverse backgrounds, occupations, and classes. The book's unique format combines three overview chapters of summary and analysis with thirteen original case studies by leading historians of women, enabling students to focus on a national history, a period, or a particular theme. Throughout, these essays explode prevalent myths about women's history--for example, that women have existed in a private sphere apart from the public lives of men, and that individual achievement stands apart from social responsibility--and demonstrate that women have indeed had a profound influence on the course of Western history during the last half millennium.