Gender studies: women and girls Books

Book SynopsisThe multi-generational, matriarchal magic and funny fantasy of ENCANTOmeets Noel Fitzpatrick's VETMAN. From superstar TV presenterand bestselling children's author Alesha Dixon.

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Book SynopsisA collection examining the trailblazing lives and movements of radical women who have shaped the modern worldTrade Review‘Exhilarating and immensely valuable’ -- Priyamvada Gopal, Professor, University of Cambridge'Captivating ... captures the resolute vision of revolutionary women in anti-colonial, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist struggles' -- Shahrzad Mojab, Professor, co-author of 'Revolutionary Learning''Powerful, complex and compassionate ... a meaningful intervention – not only in women’s and revolutionary history, but in world history' -- Dilar Dirik, author of 'The Kurdish Women’s Movement'Table of ContentsIntroduction: She Who Struggles - Marral Shamshiri and Sorcha Thomson 1. Melba Hernández: From Cuba to Vietnam, Under One Roof - Sorcha Thomson 2. Mabel Dove and Aoua Kéita: Feminist and Internationalist Struggles from Ghana to Mali - Yatta Kiazolu and Madina Thiam 3. Mary Mooney: A Story of Irish and African Diaspora Solidarity - Maurice J. Casey 4. TESTIMONY: The Power of Women’s International Solidarity with the Palestinian Revolution - Jehan Helou 5. Shigenobu Fusako: From Japan to Palestine in World Revolution - Jeremy Randall 6. Marziyeh Ahmadi Osku’i: Guerrilla Poetry between Iran, Afghanistan and India - Marral Shamshiri 7. Madame Bình and Madame Nhu: The Vietnamese Woman as Icon of Solidarity in Palestine and Iran - Thy Phu, Evyn Lê Espiritu Gandhi and Donya Ziaee 8. Sakine Cansız: Women’s Liberation and the Kurdistan Freedom Movement - Elif Sarican 9. Lindiwe Mabuza: Culture as a Weapon of Resistance in South Africa - Kebotlhale Motseothata 10. Where Are the Revolutionary Women of West Asia and North Africa? - Kanwal Hameed and Sara Salem 11. Delia Aguilar: Dissident Friendship and Filipino Feminist Thought - Karen Buenavista Hanna 12. Sister Cities: Salvadoran Refugees and US-Salvadoran Solidarity in the Americas - Molly Todd 13. INTERVIEW: Building Socialist Feminism on Southern Ground: The Women Democratic Front on the History and Politics of the Left in Pakistan - Mahvish Ahmad, Marvi Latifi, Ismat Shahjahan and Tooba Syed of the Women Democratic Front in Pakistan

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Book SynopsisUncovering the hidden history of the greatest prize in the English game

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Book SynopsisIn this intimate and extraordinary memoir, Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of Malala, gives a moving account of fatherhood and his lifelong fight for equality proving there are many faces of feminism.Whenever anybody has asked me how Malala became who she is, I have often used the phrase. Ask me not what I did but what I did not do. I did not clip her wings'For over twenty years, Ziauddin Yousafzai has been fighting for equality first for Malala, his daughter and then for all girls throughout the world living in patriarchal societies. Taught as a young boy in Pakistan to believe that he was inherently better than his sisters, Ziauddin rebelled against inequality at a young age. And when he had a daughter himself he vowed that Malala would have an education, something usually only given to boys, and he founded a school that Malala could attend.Then in 2012, Malala was shot for standing up to the Taliban by continuing to go to her father''Trade ReviewA treatise on progressive parenting and an inspirational tale of a man’s fight to defeat misogyny ... perhaps the first guidebook for fathers – or men in general – who aspire to be feminists * The News on Sunday *A beautiful and emotional read, throwing light on why he is so passionate about equality and education ... I shed a few tears reading it * The Journal.i.e *Let Her Fly is both autobiography and a passionate global entreaty to men… to set their daughters free * The Times *Let Her Fly is Ziauddin’s account of his life and his fight for the rights of all children to receive equal education, opportunities and social and political recognition * The Observer *a biography that reveals a person every bit as inspirational as his daughter * RTE Guide *

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Book SynopsisThe inspirational story of an American woman who moved mountains to secure medical treatments—and eventually a home—for a young Iraqi girl severely burned in a roadside terror attack. This is a story of the astonishing power of self-sacrificial love.On a typical Sunday morning in 2006, Barbara Marlowe saw a photo that changed her life: a photo of four-year-old Teeba Furat Fadhil, whose face, head, and hands had been severely burned during a roadside bombing in the Diyala Province of Iraq. Teeba’s eyes captivated Barbara, and she yearned to help this child who had already endured more pain and suffering than anyone should bear.Because surgeons were fleeing the war-torn country, Teeba would be unable to receive much-needed treatments if she stayed in Iraq. With powerful faith and determination, Barbara overcame obstacle after obstacle to bring Teeba from Iraq to the United States for medical treatments.A Brave Face 

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Book SynopsisJean Sasson grew up in a small town in America's deep south before moving to the Middle East in 1978 to work at a prestigious royal hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In 1985, she met Princess Sultana, who inspired the widely acclaimed Princess Trilogy. Jean later worked as freelance writer in Lebanon and Kuwait, conducting interviews with Kuwaitis who survived the first Gulf war, as well as high ranking Kuwaiti officials before, during and after the War. Her affection for the Middle East has been the motivation for a number of her books and Jean has spent her career sharing the personal stories of many courageous women. Princess: Stepping Out Of The Shadows is the latest book in the bestselling Princess series.

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Book SynopsisThe sixteen women discussed in this collection were world-makers whose craft influenced cultural practice so incisively that their shaping authority can be traced far beyond their moment. For scholars and students of English literature, this volume shows why Renaissance culture cannot be rightly understood when women writers are ignored.Trade Review'This fine compilation of essays should prove of interest to scholars in numerous fields, especially literary scholars.' Heidi Olson Campbell, Renaissance and ReformationTable of ContentsIntroduction; The literary contours of women's world-making Brandie R. Siegfried and Pamela S. Hammons; Part I. Early Modern Women Framing the Modern World: 1. Erotic origins: genesis, the passion, and Aemilia Lanyer's Queer temporality Erin Murphy; 2. Aphra Behn's fiction: transmission, editing, and canonization Paul Salzman; 3. From aisling vision to Irish queen: the reimergence of Gráinne Ní Mháille in Europe's revolutionary period Brandie R. Siegfried; 4. Reframing the picture: screening early modern women for modern audiences Lisa Walters and Naomi Miller; Part II. Remaking the Literary World: 5. Uncloseted: geography and early modern women's dramatic writing Marion Wynne-Davies; 6. Lucy Hutchinson's memoirs as auto-biography Laura DeFurio; 7. Commonplace genres, or women's interventions in non-traditional literary forms: Madame de Sablé, Aphra Behn, and the maxim Victoria E. Burke; 8. Form, formalism, and literary studies: the case of Margaret Cavendish Lara Dodds; Part III. Connecting the Social Worlds of Religion, Politics, and Philosophy: 9. Royalism and resistance: the personal and the political in Anne, Lady Halkett's Meditations, 1660–1699 Suzanne Trill; 10. Hester Pulter's dissolving worlds Marshelle Woodward; 11. The feminist worlds of Margaret Cavendish David Cunning; 12. Augustus reigns, but poets still are low: Aphra Behn's world in the emperor of the moon (1687) Elaine Hobby; Part IV. Rethinking Early Modern Types and Stereotypes: 13. Learning to imitate women: male education and the grammar of female experience Catherine Loomis; 14. Mothers and widows: world-making against stereotypes in early modern English women's manuscript writings Pamela Hammons; 15. Queer virgins: nuns, reproductive futurism, and early modern English culture Jaime Goodrich; 16. Defensor Feminae: Aemilia Lanyer and Rachel Speght Elizabeth Hodgson; 17. Margaret Cavendish's Melancholy identity: gender and the evolution of a Genre Tina Skouen and Henriette Kolle.

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Book SynopsisRun your own business, raise a family, and make a difference—at your own pace.Stacy Igel, founder of the global fashion line BOY MEETS GIRL®, walks you through the highs and lows of creating a business: how to establish a brand and attract customers, hire and fire employees, collaborate with business partners, rise up from the midst of discouragement, and not just survive the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship—but thrive.Stacy shares her twenty-year journey of growing her company from the ground up while powering through life’s challenges. Today, with her clothing sold in Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, and other stores worldwide, Stacy has climbed to the top of the ladder—but instead of pausing to look at the view, she’s pulling other women up with her.Embracing the Calm in the Chaos shares a realistic look at how to successfully balance the chaos of being a businessperson, a woman, and a paren

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Book SynopsisWomen’s medicine highlights British female doctors’ key contribution to the production and circulation of scientific knowledge around contraception, family planning and sexual disorders between 1920–70. It argues that women doctors were pivotal in developing a holistic approach to family planning and transmitting this knowledge across borders, playing a more prominent role in shaping scientific and medical knowledge than previously acknowledged. The book locates women doctors’ involvement within the changing landscape of national and international reproductive politics. Illuminating women doctors’ agency in the male-dominated field of medicine, this book reveals their practical engagement with birth control and later family planning clinics in Britain, their participation in the development of the international movement of birth control and family planning and their influence on French doctors. Drawing on a wide range of archived and published medical materials, Rusterholz sheds light on the strategies British female doctors used and the alliances they made to put forward their medical agenda and position themselves as experts and leaders in birth control and family planning research and practice.This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5, Gender equality.Trade Review'This book ... fills important gaps in women’s history and the history of medicine and health and is an outstanding contribution to the history of contraception. The rich source base and meticulous documentation underpinning Rusterholz’s bold arguments make it a solid historiography, well organized and thus easy to follow. I therefore highly recommend Women’s Medicine.'Agata Ignaciuk, University of Granada, Journal of British Studies -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 Giving birth control medical credentials in Britain, 1920–702 Sexual disorders and infertility, expanding the work of the clinics3 Medicalizing birth control at the international conferences (1920–37), a British–French comparison 4 Building a transnational movement for family planning 1927–705 Testing IUDs, a transnational journey of expertiseConclusionReferencesIndex

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Book Synopsis'Fascinating' BBC History Magazine'An important contribution to the field of military history' The Times'Brilliant, perspective-shattering' Bookseller'Outstanding . . . hard-hitting and evidence-based' Wavell ReviewsFrom Boudicca to Ukraine, battlefields have always contained a surprising number of women. Tracing the long history of female fighters, Forgotten Warriors puts the record straight, exploring how war became an all-male space, and getting to the bottom of why women were allowed to be astronauts a full thirty years before they were allowed to fight in combat.From the Mino, the all-female army that protected Dahomey from the West for two hundred years to the Night Witches, Soviet flying aces that decimated the Nazis; from the real story of Joan of Arc to the cross-dressing soldiers whose disguises were so effective the men around them never realized who they were fighting with, Sarah Percy shines a fascinating new light on the history of warfare. And against a backdrop of sieges and desperate battles, rebellions and civil wars, a series of extraordinary women come alive on the page, determined not to be passive victims.Every country has their tomb to the unknown warrior, picking out one unnamed body to represent the sacrifices of thousands of others. As Forgotten Warriors shows, those overlooked soldiers could well be female. Their heroic and compelling stories need to be heard.Trade Review'The individual tales of women who took up arms on the battlefield - and there are many - bring great life and colour to the page . . . An important contribution to the field of military history' * The Times *Ambitious, wide-ranging and learned * TLS *Outstanding . . . Percy's text is hard-hitting, and evidence-based * Wavell Reviews *Truly impressive and rigorously researched, this is a book that should be included in all libraries * New York Journal of Books *Fascinating . . . in evidencing women's long military service, Percy combats . . . the final exclusion - from the historial record * BBC History Magazine *Most people have heard of Boudicca and Joan of Arc. But as this brilliant, perspective-shattering book shows, the contributions of myriad other women who have fought on the frontlines of conflict over the past 2,000 years have routinely been suppressed * Bookseller *Magnificently researched, Forgotten Warriors opens up and heightens intellectual landscapes . . . it could not be more timely * The Monthly Magazine *Lively and vivid * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisThe emergence of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have awakened society and encouraged women to find their voice and claim back their power. Contending with a host of difficult issues that demand psychological strength - in this crucial book, prominent psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker Amy Morin gives women the techniques to build mental muscle in 13 steps.Delving into critical issues like sexism, social media, social comparison, and social pressure, Amy offers thoughtful, intelligent advice, practical tips, and specific strategies; combining them with her personal experiences, stories from former patients, and both well-known and untold examples from women from across industries and pop culture. Throughout, she explores the areas women - and society at large - must focus on to become (and remain) mentally strong.Amy reveals that healthy, mentally tough women don't insist on perfection; they don't compare themselves to other people; they don't see vulnerability as a weakness; they don't let self-doubt stop them from reaching their goals. Insightful, grounded, and extremely timely, 13 THINGS MENTALLY STRONG WOMEN DON'T DO can help every woman flourish - and Amy will take readers on this journey with her, every step of the way.

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Book SynopsisA Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestseller. Two-time Man Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel names An American Princess as one of her favorite books of the year: “light and gracefully written, it dances through a century of history…” (The Guardian) Born to a pioneering family in Upstate New York in the late 1800s, Allene Tew was beautiful, impetuous, and frustrated by the confines of her small hometown. At eighteen, she met Tod Hostetter at a local dance, having no idea that the mercurial charmer she would impulsively wed was heir to one of the wealthiest families in America. But when he died twelve years later, Allene packed her bags for New York City. Never once did she look back. From the vantage point of the American upper class, Allene embodied the tumultuous Gilded Age. Over the course of four more marriages, she weathered personal tragedies during World War I and the catastrophic financial reversals of the crash of 1929. From the castles and châteaus of Europe, she witnessed the Russian Revolution and became a princess. And from the hopes of a young girl from Jamestown, New York, Allene Tew would become the epitome of both a pursuer and survivor of the American Dream.Trade Review“Set against the tumultuous history of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this biography is certainly entertaining, but it is also a fascinating story about a remarkable woman’s indomitable spirit and will to survive. A concise, thoughtful, and well-researched biography.” —Kirkus Reviews “Readers will love this captivating true story of triumph, and the pursuit of the American Dream.” —SheReads “What could I choose, but Diarmaid MacCulloch’s masterly Thomas Cromwell: A Life, published by Allen Lane? For those less Tudor, An American Princess by Annejet van der Zijl (AmazonCrossing, trans. Michele Hutchinson) is the story of Allene Tew, a small-town banker’s daughter five times wed, to gamblers, stockbrokers, finally royals. Light and gracefully written, it dances through a century of history, costing out the American dream like a feminine complement to the National Theatre’s absorbing Lehman Trilogy.” —Hilary Mantel, from the Guardian’s “Best Books of 2018”

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Book SynopsisTwo groundbreaking sociologists explore the way the American dream is built on the backs of working poor women Many Americans take comfort and convenience for granted. We eat at nice restaurants, order groceries online, and hire nannies to care for kids. Getting Me Cheap is a riveting portrait of the lives of the low-wage workers—primarily women—who make this lifestyle possible. Sociologists Lisa Dodson and Amanda Freeman follow women in the food, health care, home care, and other low-wage industries as they struggle to balance mothering with bad jobs and without public aid. While these women tend to the needs of well-off families, their own children frequently step into premature adult roles, providing care for siblings and aging family members. Based on years of in-depth field work and hundreds of eye-opening interviews, Getting Me Cheap explores how America traps millions of women and their children into lives of stunted opportunity and poverty in service of giving others of us the lives we seek. Destined to rank with works like Evicted and Nickle and Dimed for its revelatory glimpse into how our society functions behind the scenes, Getting Me Cheap also offers a way forward—with both policy solutions and a keen moral vision for organizing women across class lines.Trade ReviewPraise for Getting Me Cheap:“This empathetic and eye-opening study leaves a mark.”—Publishers Weekly“The stories shared in this volume speak for themselves, spotlighting the frustrations, needs, and hopes of the women featured.”—Library Journal“An insightful book that shines light on issues that should be better understood by any responsible citizen.”—Kirkus Reviews“An illuminating primer placing the obstacles facing women with low-wage jobs at the forefront of intersectional feminism.”—Booklist“An urgent exposé and exploration of one of our most pressing social problems—hidden in plain sight. A must-read for anyone concerned about how to make America a more just and equal nation.”—Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage and author of One Fair Wage“This formidable book insists we face the harm of wage poverty in women’s lives and see the real costs of relying on their cheap labor. The powerful stories of mothers’ determination to care for their children become a courageous call for solidarity and collective action.”—Ellen Bravo, activist and author of Standing Up: Tales of Struggle“The lives that so many of us lead depend on the invisible labor of others, whose own needs are cast aside by our society. This brilliant book moves those essential workers—so many of them mothers—into the light”—Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America“The United States has the highest percentage of low-wage workers of any country in the OECD aside from Lithuania—a disproportionate number of them women who provide services to better-off families. Freeman and Dobson take us inside their lives to reveal the price they and their families pay for the cheap labor they provide to others.”—Stephanie Coontz, author of The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap

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Book SynopsisRestores the first German feminist film, long neglected, to its rightful status as a classic forebear of more recent cinefeminism, demonstrating that the film is as relevant today as it was upon its 1968 release. Acclaimed as postwar Germany's first feminist film, Ula Stöckl's The Cat Has Nine Lives disappeared from view shortly after its 1968 premiere when its distributor went bankrupt. Although it laid the groundwork for the flourishing feminist cinema that emerged in West Germany and beyond during the 1970s, Stöckl's vibrant film long remained largely unknown. Yet it is as fresh and relevant today as it was when it debuted half a century ago. Revived at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), The Cat Has Nine Lives is now available for the first time on DVD with English subtitles. Posing the question, "Women have never had as many possibilities to do what they want as they have today, but do they know what they want?," Stöckl's film follows the intertwined stories of five characters to explore the possibilities for and limitations on women's subjectivity, desire, friendship, work, and artistic expression in a society defined by gender inequality. Restoring this singular film to its rightful place as a German film classic, Hester Baer argues that The Cat Has Nine Lives forms an important aesthetic and theoretical precursor to the unfolding cinefeminism of later decades.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments In the Driver's Seat First Feminist Film 1968 and German History "Power-War-Love" Creating the New German Feature Film Language Colors The Mythical Circe Feminist Representation and Documentary Style Alternative Imaginaries Plant Life Endings Credits Notes

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Book SynopsisAppreciate your True Friends with Friendship Quotes and Stories“BJ Gallagher ... motivates and teaches with empathy, understanding, and more than a little humor.”—Debba Haupert, of the Girlfriendology PodcastTrue friends are hard to find and even harder to describe. But with real life stories, friendship quotes, inspirational quotes, and anecdotes about the ups and downs and ins and outs of friendships, Friends are Everything has everything you ever need for friendship empowerment.Beautiful friendships of all shapes and sizes. To bestselling author B.J. Gallagher, there are so many types of friends. There are friends who tell you what you don’t want to hear, friends who help you be your best self, friends who forgive you when you hurt them, friends who respect your boundaries. There are neighbors, best friends, childhood friends, spiritual friends, friends who are family, friends who are lovers, friends at work, and the list goes on. Get ready to dive into what it really means to love a friend and what it means to be one.Inspirational quotes for your girlfriends. With more than three dozen inspiring stories from girlfriends across the country, affirmative acronyms, and female empowerment quotes, Friends are Everything is a heartfelt celebration of friendships across all generations and a perfect gift to share with your bestie.Inside Friends are Everything, find friendship quotes, inspirational quotes, and words of empowerment in heartwarming and entertaining stories such as: “Please, Help Me Stop Shooting Myself in the Foot!” “Finding Mr. Probably Right” “A Woman’s Wheels” If you enjoyed books like That's What She Said; Tell Me More; or Hey Friend, I Wrote a Book About You, then you’ll love Friends are Everything.Trade Review“BJ Gallagher…motivates and teaches with empathy, understanding, and more than a little humor.”—Debba Haupert, of the Girlfriendology Podcast “Reading Friends Are Everything reminds me of all the ways my friends have literally saved my life…. This lovely book is a joyous testament to friendship. It’s a treasure chest full of gems and jewels—each one reflecting a different facet of fabulous friendships.”—Diane Conway, author of What Would You Do If You Had No Fear? “Be prepared to feel touched, motivated, and filled with warmth—and to view your treasured friends with new eyes.”—Susan Page, author of If I’m So Wonderful, Why Am I Still Single?Table of ContentsContentsIntroduction True Friends: 1 Understand that the little things can make a BIG difference 2 Laugh together . . . often! 3 Help us see ourselves more clearly 4 Love us unconditionally, just as we are 5 Teach and inspire us to be our best selves 6 Extend themselves with generosity and love 7 Comfort and support us through struggles and disappointments 8 Forgive us when we hurt them, just as we forgive them 9 Let us love them back 10 Know the power of community. . . . Together we can do almost anything! And Finally . . . Thank You! v

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Book Synopsis***A Waterstones Best Books of 2022 pick***The story of the pioneering anthropologists and their adventures among civilisations that were first thought of as being primitive and savage. What they discovered, however, would change the way we think about ourselves.In the late nineteenth century, when non-European societies were seen as 'living fossils' offering an insight into how Western civilisation had evolved, anthropology was a thrilling new discipline which attracted the brightest minds of the academic world. But, by the middle of the twentieth century, colonialism was recognised as being inextricably linked to exploitation and outdated labels like 'savage' were inconceivable when so-called 'civilised' man had wreaked such devastation across two world wars.Focusing on twelve key European and American anthropologists working in the field, from Franz Boas on Baffin Island in the 1880s to Claude Lévi-Strauss in Brazil fifty years later, Lucy Moore explores the brief flowering of anthropology as a quasi-scientific area of study with all its insights and ambivalence. In Search of Us tells the story of the men and women whose observations of the 'other' would transform attitudes about race, gender equality, sexual liberation, parenting and tolerance in ways they had never anticipated. In an enthralling, perceptive narrative, Moore shows how these radical anthropologists were inspired by their time in the furthest-flung reaches of the known world, becoming pioneers of a new way of thinking. In the end, their legacy is less about understanding foreign cultures and more about their attempts to persuade human beings to look at one another with eyes washed free from prejudice. Their intention may have been to explain what they saw as the primitive world to the civilised one but they ended up changing the way people viewed themselves - at least for a time.Trade ReviewIn this skilful summary of the early years of anthropology between 1880 and 1939, Lucy Moore reveals a veritable tangle of turf wars, power scrambles and sexual bad behaviour... Moore's fluent account confirms that there is always room for a new view, especially when it is as well done as this one. * Sunday Times *Moore doesn't sugar-coat her protagonists' many prejudices, their cavalier treatment of their indigenous subjects, or the problematic history of their discipline. But though she summarises their scholarly views, the main pleasure of her book lies in its celebration of a dozen colourful, unconventional, free-thinking lives. * Guardian *The story of anthropology's early pioneers lies at the heart of this joyfully narrated history of a scientific field that, at its best, opens our minds to the rich kaleidoscope of human experience... [A] gripping collection of life stories. * Literary Review *Entertaining... Told with a novelistic eye for the character-revealing anecdote. * Spectator *Moore's biographical approach makes for compelling and informative reading * Philosophy Now *Table of Contents1: The Pioneer: Franz Boas on Baffin Island, 1883 2: The Mentors: Alfred Haddon and William Rivers in the Torres Strait, 1898 3: The Philosopher: Edvard Westermarck in Morocco, 1898 4: The Magi: Daisy Bates and Alfred Radcliffe-Brown in Western Australia, 1910 -1912 5: The Hero: Bronislaw Malinowski in the Trobriand Islands, 1915-1917 6: The Academy: Franz Boas at Columbia University, 1899-1942 7: The Maiden: Ruth Benedict in the American Southwest, 1920s 8: The Child: Margaret Mead in Samoa, 1925 9: Insider/Outsider: Zora Neale Hurston in NewOrleans, 1928 10: The Bluestocking: Audrey Richards in Zambia, 1930-1931 11: The Trickster: Claude Lévi-Strauss in Brazil, 1938-1939

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Book SynopsisThis collection of essays celebrates 10 years of the SI Leeds Literary prize for unpublished fiction by Black and Asian women writers. These are important words spoken by important women about the lives they have lived, their experiences, and all the things they’ve really wanted to write about but have had trouble getting commissioned, due to narrow expectations of the publishing industry. Essays include: Why I Write, Discouragement and Courage, The Versions of Me You Do Not See, Three Wise Women, Writing, Race and Sex. Contributing writers include Suad Kamardeen, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Gail Boland, Irenosen Okojie, Wenyan Lu, Amita Murray, Mahsuda Snaith, Shereen Tadros, Winnie M Li, Fiona Goh, Saima Mir, Huma Qureshi.

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Book SynopsisWhat would life be like if we had the courage to say, 'I want something different'? 'Elegant, thoughtful, vulnerable, and inspiring' Elizabeth GilbertFrom a highly lauded modern voice in feminism and racial justice comes a deeply personal and insightful testament to the power of reimagining - the act of creating in our mind's eye that which does not but can and should existWe all experience breaking points, those moments when we realise that something must change. For activist, philanthropist, and CEO Rachel E. Cargle, reimagining - relationships, work, education, rest, faith and power - saw her through some of the most painful experiences and helped her to craft an authentic identity and become an incisive queer feminist voice of a generation. A Renaissance of Our Own offers a blueprint for how we can all use our imagination to live independent of oppressive structures and in alignment with our highest values - how we can all create a life that feels right.'Dazzling - a loving, bold tale of imagination, bravery and radical action' ElleTrade ReviewRachel Cargle is that rare sort of phoenix who rises from the ashes of her life not only reborn on the personal level, but also fully ready to change the world ... an elegant, thoughtful, vulnerable, and inspiring memoir * Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic *Dazzling -a loving, bold tale of imagination, bravery, and radical action in the face of injustice * Elle *Profoundly moving and powerful ... you will leave these pages changed for the better * Gabrielle Union, author of We're Going to Need More Wine *Beautiful ... This book is not meant to be simply consumed but explored * Joy Harden Bradford, founder of Therapy for Black Girls and author of Sisterhood Heals *Cargle recounts how she spun silk out of the thread bare yarns of patriarchy and white supremacy while reminding readers that such alchemy is possible ... if we give ourselves permission to re-imagine our existences * Sonya Renee Taylor, author of The Body is Not an Apology *A collection of lessons and questions that prompt the reader's own life redesign * Time Magazine *

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Book SynopsisA practical and uplifting vision of better ways to live together, own property, have families and raise children, from the author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism.'Kristen Ghodsee is back with another splendid insight: utopia can and ought to be an everyday thing. In every home. Invigorating writing for a cheerless era' YANIS VAROUFAKIS'History is made by the dreamers ... A must-read' THOMAS PIKETTY---The traditional 'nuclear' family home is a problem: it places unfair and unnecessary burdens on women (and men too), it entrenches inequalities, it entraps us financially and it hinders certain kinds of child development. Also, it doesn't seem to make us very happy.And yet throughout history and around the world today, forward-thinking communities have pioneered alternative ways of living - from the all-female 'beguinages' of medieval Belgium to the matriarchal ecovillages of contemporary Colombia; from the ancient Greek commune founded by Pythagoras, where men and women lived as equals and shared property, to present-day Connecticut, where new laws make it easier for extra 'alloparents' to help raise children not their own. Some of these experiments burned brightly and briefly; others are living proof of what is possible.Everyday Utopia upends our assumptions and raises our sights by gathering these and many more inspiring examples together, arguing that many of the most important and effective ways of changing our lives and the world are to be found in the home. The result is a radically hopeful and practical vision of more connected - and contented - ways of living.'Liberating and inspirational, a sweeping feminist history of society at its most creative' ADA CALHOUN, author of Why We Can't SleepTrade ReviewHistory is made by the dreamers ... A must-read -- THOMAS PIKETTY, author of A Brief History of EqualityJust wonderful -- ANGELA SAINI, author of The PatriarchsThis warm, intelligent and lucid book takes us on a deep dive into how people have created better systems for living – systems that actually work -- ROBERT WALDINGER, author of The Good Life and director of the Harvard Study of Adult DevelopmentExhilarating. A powerful reminder that dreaming of better worlds is not just some fantastical project but also a very serious political one -- REBECCA TRAISTER, author of Good and MadKristen Ghodsee is back with another splendid insight: utopia can and ought to be an everyday thing. In every home. Invigorating writing for a cheerless era -- YANIS VAROUFAKIS, author of TechnofeudalismLiberating and inspirational ... Kristen Ghodsee's sweeping feminist history of society at its most creative -- ADA CALHOUN, author of Why We Can't SleepA vision of what could be our future if we dare to dream -- SUSAN NEIMAN, author of Left Is Not WokeCompelling ... spirited and inspiring * Jacobin *

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Book SynopsisWho were the women who fought back at Grunwick and Gate Gourmet? Striking Women gives a voice to the women involved as they discuss their lives, their work and their trade unions. Striking Women is centred on two industrial disputes, the famous Grunwick strike (1976-78) and the Gate Gourmet dispute that erupted in 2005. Focusing on these two events, the book explores the nature of South Asian women’s contribution to the struggles for workers’ rights in the UK labour market. The authors examine histories of migration and settlement of two different groups of women of South Asian origin, and how this history, their gendered, classed and racialised inclusion in the labour market, the context of industrial relations in the UK in the two periods and the nature of the trade union movement shaped the trajectories and the outcomes of the two disputes. This is the first account based on the voices of the women involved. Drawing on life/work history interviews with thirty-two women who participated in the two disputes, as well as interviews with trade union officials, archival material and employment tribunal proceedings, the authors explore the motivations, experiences and implications of these events for their political and social identities.Table of Contents1. Striking women from Grunwick to Gate Gourmet 2. Beyond the stereotypes: South Asian women workers 3. Histories of migration and settlement in the UK 4. Everyday accounts of resilience, struggle and resistance in a gendered and racialised labour market 5. `We are the lions, Mr Manager’: The Grunwick dispute 6. `You have to fight for your right … no one gives it to you on a plate’: The Gate Gourmet dispute 7. Minority women and unionisation in a changing economy – where are we now? Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis‘A compelling real-life thriller, full of passion, free of writerly fuss, woven from the most intractable archival cat’s cradle imaginable.’ Simon Ings, The Telegraph The true story of a decade-long investigation that opens a new window onto Cold War espionage, CIA secrets, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Independent filmmaker Mary Haverstick thought she’d stumbled onto the project of a lifetime — a biopic of a little-known aviation legend whose story seemed to embody the hopeful spirit of the dawn of the space age. But after she received a mysterious warning from a government agent, Haverstick began to suspect that all was not as it seemed. What she found as she dug deeper was a darker story — a story of double identities and female spies, a tangle of intrigue that stretched from the fields of the Congo to the shores of Cuba, from the streets of Mexico City to the dark heart of the Kennedy assassination in Dallas, Texas. As Haverstick attempted to learn the truth directly from her subject in a cat-and-mouse game that stretched across a decade, she plunged deep into the CIA files of the 1950s and 60s. A Woman I Know brings vividly to life the duplicities of the Cold War intelligence game, a world where code names and doubletalk are the lingua franca of spies bent on seeking advantage by any means necessary. As Haverstick sheds light on a remarkable set of women whose high-stakes intelligence work has left its only traces in redacted files, she also discovers disturbing and shocking new clues about what really happened at Dealey Plaza in 1963. Offering new clues to the assassination and a vivid picture of women in mid-century intelligence, A Woman I Know is a gripping real-life thriller.Trade Review‘A cat-and-mouse search for a woman’s identity opens onto a shadowy corner of the assassination of John F. Kennedy … Jerrie Cobb’s fascinating life reveals her to be “a spy, an explorer, a gambler, an astronaut, an illusionist, a narcissist, and a con” — and, to say the least, a puzzle. Assassination buffs and students of spycraft will find this intriguing and endlessly enigmatic.’ * Kirkus Reviews *‘Mary Haverstick’s tale is troubling. It is made up of stories that fit together, but that end up making the whole a little opaque by dint of concealment and lies. However, the author spares no effort to unravel the truth from the lies throughout the many interviews she had with this fascinating woman … In any case, the personality of Jerrie Cobb is surprising, whimsical and romantic … We’ll leave it to the readers to discover this skein of intrigues that leads to Dallas. But anyway, this incredible lady deserved to be revealed with so much mastery and unexpected twists.’ * Livres Hebdo *‘An anxious, furious, forensic contribution to the study of the assassination of US president John F Kennedy … Haverstick is in earnest here, and has a memory like a filing system and a filing system like a vice. The least this book could possibly be is a compelling real-life thriller, full of passion, free of writerly fuss, woven from the most intractable archival cat’s cradle imaginable. That’s what you’ve got, even before you think to take it seriously — and I’ll bet the farm that you will. -- Simon Ings * The Telegraph *‘Fascinating … [Haverstick] distills a prodigious amount of research into a fast-moving story … As a fresh history of US espionage, A Woman I Know is an absorbing read.’ * The New York Times *‘Mary Haverstick … seems to have broken new ground … The seductive thing about her argument is that it ties together all the loose pieces and vexing puzzles to do with Oswald, the CIA, and Mexico City. She has avoided the many pitfalls of earlier conspiracy theories and brought forth abundant new evidence. And she did not set out to generate a conspiracy theory … She was driven unsuspecting to her conclusion.’ -- Paul Monk * The Australian *

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Book SynopsisBased on the hit podcast The Women of Marvel, #1 New York Times bestselling author Margaret Stohl illuminates some of Marvel Comics' most important female creators and characters, from the landmark entertainment company's inception through today!

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Book Synopsis"Fascinating and vivid." New Statesman "Thoroughly researched." The Spectator "Intriguing." BBC History Magazine "Vividly told." BBC History Revealed "A timely warning against persecution." Morning Star "Astute and thoughtful." History Today "An important work." All About History "Well-researched." The Tablet On the morning of Thursday 29 June 1682, a magpie came rasping, rapping and tapping at the window of a prosperous Devon merchant. Frightened by its appearance, his servants and members of his family had, within a matter of hours, convinced themselves that the bird was an emissary of the devil sent by witches to destroy the fabric of their lives. As the result of these allegations, three women of Bideford came to be forever defined as witches. A Secretary of State brushed aside their case and condemned them to the gallows; to hang as the last group of women to be executed in England for the crime. Yet, the hatred of their neighbours endured. For Bideford, it was said, was a place of witches. Though ‘pretty much worn away’ the belief in witchcraft still lingered on for more than a century after their deaths. In turn, ignored, reviled, and extinguished but never more than half-forgotten, it seems that the memory of these three women - and of their deeds and sufferings, both real and imagined – was transformed from canker to regret, and from regret into celebration in our own age. Indeed, their example was cited during the final Parliamentary debates, in 1951, that saw the last of the witchcraft acts repealed, and their names were chanted, as both inspiration and incantation, by the women beyond the wire at Greenham Common. In this book, John Callow explores this remarkable reversal of fate, and the remarkable tale of the Bideford Witches.Trade ReviewCallow’s intriguing book is both a case study of the Bideford witch trail and an examination of how superstition prevailed in a time of increasing rationality… Callow’s fascinating and vivid unpicking of the English Salem is also an account of the birth pangs of the modern age. -- Michael Prodger * New Statesman *Callow examines in detail the surviving evidence of the Bideford case, while also imaginatively reconstructing events to create a convincing picture of how superstition and belief in sorcery lay just beneath the surface of a mercantile society struggling to be born. -- Nigel Jones * The Spectator *One 17th-century pamphlet about the Bideford trial promised "many Wonderful Things, worth your Reading"; a line that could justifiably be slapped across the cover of [The Last Witches of England]. -- Tristram Saunders * The Telegraph Culture *A retelling of a 17th-century witchcraft trial that never loses sight of the women at its heart, nor the social and economic factors that contributed to their plight… There is no plain explanation for the witchcraft accusations of 1682, but then acts of evil never have a simple origin. The Last Witches of England faces that fact and marshals an intriguing story around new research on the case. -- Marion Gibson * BBC History Magazine *Carrow meticulously explores the haunting tale of the Bideford witches. -- Suzannah Lipscomb * UnHerd *An elegantly presented, well illustrated and readable book on how class conflict played out through witch hunting… A timely warning against persecution and intolerance. * The Morning Star *In The Last Witches of England John Callow painstakingly reconstructs the lines of three beggar women accused of witchcraft in Bideford, Devon in 1632 by trawling administrate records, parish registers and dole lists. It is a remarkable piece of scholarship…astute and thoughtful. * History Today *Vividly told, detailed and extremely moving. * BBC History Revealed *The Last Witches of England is an important work of social history that presents valuable insights into the workings of life, death, and belief in a cosmopolitan 17th-century town. * All About History *A well-researched and even-handed account of this landmark case, giving pen portraits of all the major players, and providing a comprehensive picture of life in seventeenth-century Britain. -- Chris Nancollas * The Tablet *[Written] with flair and colour… Excellent local studies such as [this] bring[s] us closer to understanding the reality of witchcraft beliefs and accusations in the early modern English world than we have ever seen before. -- Ronald Hutton * Fortean Times *I rarely feel deeply moved by academic publications but John Callow’s exploration of the ‘Bideford Witches’ had a profound effect on me… Callow’s work invites the reader to bear witness to the persecution of the poor and the marginalised… Callow’s work adds considerable weight to a strong moral argument. -- Julie Ward * Chartist *This riveting read is important albeit uncomfortable. In this book, Callow has allowed readers to look at their shared past unflinchingly so that we may go into a less tragic future. -- Hilary Wilson * The Folklore Podcast *A marvellous overview of not only the fate of three women but also of Bideford which was an important port in the 17th Century... with an in depth study of the social and political conditions surrounding the fate of ‘The last witches’ is extremely valuable for those who are interested in the historical background to Wicca, but also for understanding the recent interest in Witchcraft as a political tool. * Wiccan Rede *The Last Witches of England: A Tragedy of Sorcery and Superstition offers a thoroughly engaging account of the lives and afterlives of Temperance Lloyd, Susanna Edwards, and Mary Trembles, three women who were executed for witchcraft in 1682. It is a well-told narrative that will be of interest to scholars of witchcraft, as well as those working more broadly in early modern British social history. * Canadian Journal of History / Annales canadiennes d'histoire *[Callow] brings to the Bideford episode a nuanced sense of how witches’ supposed powers were understood and experienced at different levels of early modern society. * Inside Higher Ed *The Bideford witches' story is an essential piece in England's witchcraft history. Callow has researched it properly and deeply for the first time, and his astonishing discoveries shed new light on this tragic and bizarre story. He draws the reader into the story, retelling it with vibrant characterisation. We come away with a thoughtful understanding of what it meant to be deemed a witch, tried as a witch, and to die as a witch. * Dr. Christina Oakley Harrington, Founder & Director, Treadwell's, UK *I read the book with considerable interest and enjoyment - others have written on the Bideford witches, but not in this sort of depth. John Callow has been remarkably successful in reconstructing the story of the three 'Bideford Witches' executed in 1682. He maintains an imaginative and accessible narrative grounded in the relevant documentation and the relevant historical context, which will immerse the modern reader in the tragedies and complexities of the early modern witch hunts. * James Sharpe, Professor Emeritus of Early Modern History, University of York, UK *This is a stirring and multilayered book. At its heart is a very sad story, but one that needs to be heard. The cautionary tale Callow spins here is not the war between superstition and reason, but in the ways in which we have historically vilified and marginalized those in poverty, especially women, and the lengths we go to in silencing their voices. * Dr Amy Hale, Anthropologist and Folklorist, writer of Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully, USA *With 17th Century culture wars, conspiracy theories and non-science, it wasn’t just the people who spread deadly superstition. Political, religious, media, scientific and even legal establishments literally demonised vulnerable women. John Callow’s meticulous and gripping history of the Bideford Witches is unputdownable. * Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, Politician, Barrister and Human Rights Activist, UK *Table of ContentsIllustrations Acknowledgements A Note on Dating & Terminology Prologue: The Magpie at the Window Chapter One: Fortune My Foe Chapter Two: England’s Golden Bay Chapter Three: An Underground Religion Chapter Four: The Cat, the Pig and the Poppet Chapter Five: The Stolen Apple & a Farthing’s Worth of Tobacco Chapter Six: A Fine Gentleman Dressed All in Black Chapter Seven: The Discourse of the Sleepy Chimney Chapter Eight: The Politics of Death Chapter Nine: At the House of the White Witch Chapter Ten: Where are the Witches? The Crafting of Memory and Survival Endnotes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[E]ye-opening . . . Calkin’s meticulous analysis demonstrates how the technological development of these pills has led to substantial changes in the social politics of abortion around the world, due not just to their ease of use but their ease of transport. The result is an incisive look at the deeply intertwined relationship between international supply chains, local politics, underground activism, and women’s rights." * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. How Indian Abortion Pills Travel the Globe 2. Abortion Pills in US Clinics and Laws 3. How to Self-Manage Abortion in America 4. The Geography of Clandestine Abortion in Poland 5. Abortion Pills in the Polish Abortion Underground 6. Irish Abortions by Plane or Pill 7. Abortion Pills and Ireland’s 8th Amendment Referendum 8. From Criminalization to Decriminalization in Northern Ireland 9. Looking Forward Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn Complaint! Sara Ahmed examines what we can learn about power from those who complain about abuses of power. Drawing on oral and written testimonies from academics and students who have made complaints about harassment, bullying, and unequal working conditions at universities, Ahmed explores the gap between what is supposed to happen when complaints are made and what actually happens. To make complaints within institutions is to learn how they work and for whom they work: complaint as feminist pedagogy. Ahmed explores how complaints are made behind closed doors and how doors are often closed on those who complain. To open these doors---to get complaints through, keep them going, or keep them alive---Ahmed emphasizes, requires forming new kinds of collectives. This book offers a systematic analysis of the methods used to stop complaints and a powerful and poetic meditation on what complaints can be used to do. Following a long lineage of Black feminist and feminist of color criTrade Review“Sara Ahmed always has her finger on the pulse of the times as she assists us to explore the deeper meanings and philosophical nuances of quotidian concepts and practices. Beautifully written and thoroughly engaging, Complaint! is precisely the text we need at this moment as we seek to understand and transform the institutional structures promoting racism and heteropatriarchy.” -- Angela Y. Davis“In her latest contribution to our knowledge, Sara Ahmed gifts us with a book about the phenomenology of complaint and the layered, entangled complexity of how power works institutionally. She foregrounds that to complain is to transgress. To transgress is to become a site of negation. To negate is to trigger an institution into protecting the status quo through risk-adverse processes that are experienced as violent and exhaustive. Ahmed’s intellectually expansive book achieves two things: it exposes the meaning, experiences, and perceptions of complaint and provides testimony to the courage of those who complain, who fight, who believe justice should not just appear to be done; it must be done.” -- Aileen Moreton-Robinson, author of * Talkin’ Up to the White Woman: Indigenous Women and Feminism *"[Ahmed] presents a strong argument that power in higher education tends to protect itself, that diversity initiatives are often nothing more than window dressing, and that those who file complaints about a hostile work environment often face accusations of disloyalty or troublemaking. . . . Most of the charges here are broad and general, but anyone who has worked in higher education will recognize much of what Ahmed brings to light. Sharp criticism of an overlooked systemic problem in higher education." * Kirkus Reviews *"In her powerful new book . . . Sara Ahmed builds on a series of oral and written testimonies from students and employees who have complained to higher education universities about harassment and inequality. Here, she asks readers to think about some inescapable questions: What happens when complaints are pushed under the rug? How is complaint radical feminism? And, how can we learn about power from those who choose to fight against the powerful?" -- Rebecca Schneid * Indy Week *"This is audacious but persuasive critique, which accrues its power by stealth. Complaint! is dense with insight, but admirably lucid." -- Zora Simic * Australian Book Review *"Inspired by the students she worked with, Ahmed’s new book examines the act—indeed, the feminist pedagogy—of complaining within an organization. With the help of testimonials from individuals who filed complaints of harassment, bullying, and abuse at Goldsmiths and other universities, Ahmed explores the cracks within these formal systems and illustrates the painful processes that survivors experience too often." -- Yvette Dionne and Rosa Cartagena * Bitch *"An absolutely brilliant endeavor. . . . The real nuance and sophistication of this book, written with such emotional and intellectual insight, the means by which Ahmed identifies strategies of institutional power in relation to power in relation to harassment and abuse is revelatory, thorny, painful, and very, very necessary." -- Linda M. Morra * Getting Lit with Linda *"Sara Ahmed’s Complaint! is an antidote to apathy. . . . The potent reminder that Ahmed offers is that we are not the ones with the problem, that a number of voices raised up in complaint can help identify that the problem lies elsewhere." -- Eda Gunaydin * Sydney Review of Books *"It’s feminism that isn’t out to win friends but should certainly influence people. It’s angry because anger is required. And it’s collective and inclusive. . . . ever quick to pick up on ironies and contradictions, she nails it time after time. 'Making a complaint is often necessary because of a crisis or trauma,' she writes, but 'the complaint often becomes part of the crisis or trauma.' Such phrases characterise Ahmed’s Möbius band idiolect; they hit home because of the writer’s extraordinary skill." -- Emma Rees * Times Higher Education *"Ahmed brings great authority and gravity to Complaint!, from her own experiences (she resigned from an institution after they mishandled a series of complaints), her engagement with a “complaint collective” in the UK, and her decades-long scholarship in feminist, queer, and race studies. Black feminism and women of color feminism anchor the book. The author does not flinch at the difficult intersections where one underrepresented or traditionally marginalized group seems at odds with another; instead, she examines the effects of complaint in each area of these intersections, retaining her sharp focus on an analysis of power dynamics." -- Ellen Mayock * Public Books *"This is another insightful book in Ahmed’s well-regarded series of considerations of what acting as a feminist in non-feminist institutions means. . . . Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals." * Choice *"Ahmed illuminates how institutions like the university are designed for precisely the people who can and continue to flourish while miming theoretical righteousness and perpetuating violent norms." -- Anna Nguyen * LSE Review of Books *“Complaint! offers catharsis, collectivity, and care. It is an archive of complaint, it is a radical call to action, and it is a feminist record. It is also beautifully written, deeply painful, and absolutely necessary at this very moment.” -- Catherine Oliver * Gender, Place & Culture *"This book is inspiring and a source of solidarity. It provides encouragement to protest and fight for change. And whilst no doubt a difficult read for university leaders, they should read it to help them reflect on what is happening in their institutions and learn how they can truly implement those policies and practice to bring about fair and just equality of opportunity." -- Gill Crozier * British Journal of Sociology of Education *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi Introduction: Hearing Complaint 1 Part I. Institutional Mechanics 27 1. Mind the Gap! Policies, Procedures, and Other Nonperformatives 29 2. On Being Stopped 69 Part II. The Immanence of Complaint 101 3. In the Thick of It 103 4. Occupied 137 Part III. If These Doors Could Talk? 175 5. Behind Closed Doors: Complaints and Institutional Violence 179 6. Holding the Door: Power, Promotion, Progression 220 Part IV. Conclusions 257 7. Collective Conclusions by Leila Whitley, Tiffany Page, and Alice Corble, with Heidi Hasbrouck, Chryssa Sdrolia and others 261 8. Complaint Collectives 274 Notes 311 References 343 Index 353

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Book SynopsisArtist and illustrator Elizabeth Gould is finally given the recognition she deserves in this gorgeous volume that includes hundreds of her stunning and scientifically precise illustrations of birds from nearly every continent. For all of her short life, Elizabeth Gould's artistic career was appreciated through the lens of her husband, ornithologist John Gould, with whom she embarked on a series of ambitious projects to document and illustrate the birds of the world. Elizabeth played a crucial role in her husband's lavish publications, creating beautifully detailed and historically significant accurate illustrations of over six hundred birds -many of which were new to science. However, Elizabeth's role was not always fully credited and, following her tragic death aged only thirty-seven, her efforts and talent were nearly forgotten. This marvelous volume offers a new and timely tribute to Elizabeth's reputation and skill. It opens with an introduction to her life and achievements that reflects the latest scholarship. Following is a geographically organized collection of full-color plates depicting birds from nineteenth-century Europe, South and Central America, Africa, Asia, and Australia including previously unpublished original artworks. Filled with the highest quality reproductions, this volume allows readers to appreciate first-hand Gould's talent for capturing the unique character of each species and the beauty of avian diversity. At the same time it offers a valuable reconsideration of a woman who left a lasting legacy as one of the greatest bird painters of all time.Trade ReviewIn BIRDS OF THE WORLD we find lithographs whose knowingly slapdash linework, paired with bright pigments and quick washes, makes prints such as her candy-cloudy Senegalese woodland kingfisher feel like daydreams as much as records. As Her Majesty’s navies and naturalists patrolled the world, Gould limned its limits, whetting the visual imagination of an ever-reaching empire.

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Book Synopsis"Beautifully written, searingly honest, and deeply affecting ... when the book ended, I only wanted more" - Roxane Gay"Ford is a writer for the ages, and Somebody's Daughter will be a book of the year" - Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed"Truly a classic in the making" - John Green, author of The Fault in Our StarsAn Oprah bookThroughout her adolescence, Ashley Ford doesn't know how to deal with the worries that keep her up at night. If only she could turn to her father for his advice and support. But he's in prison, and she doesn't know what he did to end up there. After being raped by her ex-boyfriend, Ashley desperately searches for her sense of self. Then, her grandmother reveals the truth about her father's incarceration... and Ashley's world is turned upside down.Ashley embarks on a powerful journey to find the connections between who she is and what she was born into, discovering that, however much we might try to untether ourselves from a painful past, the ties that bind families together are the strongest ones of all."Sure to be one of the best memoirs of 2021" - Kirkus Reviews"A heart-wrenching coming-of age story" - Time"Her coming-of-age story gets at how to both acknowledge and break away from what we're born into" - Cosmopolitan"A beautiful, delicate memoir... a journey toward true and powerful selfhood" - ElleTrade Review'Somebody's Daughter is the heart-wrenching yet equally witty and wondrous story of how Ford came through the fire and emerged triumphant, as her own unapologetic, Black-girl self.' - The New York Times'Somebody's Daughter stands out as one of the BEST memoirs of 2021.' - BookRiot'Perhaps the greatest contribution Ford makes is to offer her story ? written in the most lively and lucid prose ? in its most raw and unabridged form...By telling her truth so honestly and authentically, Ford invites us to tell ours, too.' - The Washington Post'Ford's vulnerability on the page is an extraordinary feat, as she masterfully traces how the yearning girl she once was became the empowered woman she is today.' - Esquire'Ford executes her task with both unstinting honesty and rare tenderness toward the deeply flawed, but steadfast, circle of adults who raised her. The resulting portraits, of her mother and grandmother, in particular, are remarkably vivid and humane, haunting the reader long after one has closed the book's pages...' - LA Review of Books'Gorgeous, profoundly moving, and historically important ? by a terrific writer.' - Min Jin Lee, author of the New York Times bestseller and National Book Award Finalist Pachinko'Armed with the insight and lessons from her youth, the author emerged as a bright young college student who learned to love herself for who she was and who she has yet to become.' - The New York Journal Review of Books'With a lucidity that is almost a superpower, [Ford] transports us into her singular experience of growing up poor and Black and female in Fort Wayne, Ind.' - People magazine, Book of the Week'A radiant coming-of-age memoir.' - Oprah Daily'Layering in the complexities of her relationship with her mother, her changing body and a boyfriend who grows abusive, Ford offers a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story' - Time

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking introduction to the photographic work of an iconic modern artistTrade Review“This fascinating book was released to coincide with an exhibition of O'Keeffe's photography...and shines a fresh light on one of the 20th century's most innovative and iconic artists.”—Jonathan Harwood, Black & White Photography2022 PROSE Award Finalist, Art Exhibitions category“Lisa Volpe’s careful scholarship offers a new perspective on the work of Georgia O’Keeffe. As viewers, we are invited to see the intimacy of her surroundings through the act of taking pictures.”—Catherine Opie“A necessary, and beautiful, contribution to the mountain of scholarship on Georgia O’Keeffe. For the first time, we can talk about O’Keeffe as a photographer and within the long line of modern artists who used photography as a critical tool in constructing their paintings.”—Bruce Robertson, University of California, Santa Barbara“O’Keeffe had no desire to be an art photographer, this welcome study reveals, but she deeply exploited the camera’s potential to focus and frame motifs in memorable compositions. In ways unknown until now, she used her Leica and Polaroid as power tools to exercise her eye and practice her formal aesthetics.”—Wanda M. Corn, author of Georgia O’Keeffe, Living Modern“In this deeply researched and engaging book, Lisa Volpe and Ariel Plotek not only show how O’Keeffe used the same pictorial strategies in creating her photographs as she did in her paintings, but they also shed light on her life in New Mexico in her later years. In the end, this book is about artistic rejuvenation—it reveals how great artists, like O’Keeffe, repeatedly rethink their work and practice, expanding and reinvigorating it as new challenges and new opportunities present themselves.”—Sarah Greenough, National Gallery of Art

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Book SynopsisA sumptuous survey of over 300 women painters and their work spanning almost five centuries Great Women Painters is a groundbreaking book that reveals a richer and more varied telling of the story of painting. Featuring more than 300 artists from around the world, it includes both well-known women painters from history and today's most exciting rising stars. Covering nearly 500 years of skill and innovation, this survey continues Phaidon's celebrated The Art Book series and reveals and champions a more diverse history of art, showcasing recently discovered and newly appreciated work and artists throughout its more than 300 pages and images. Artists featured include: Hilma af Klint, Eileen Agar, Sofonisba Anguissola, Cecily Brown, Leonora Carrington, Mary Cassatt, Elaine de Kooning, Marlene Dumas, Nicole Eisenman, Jadé Fadojutimi, Helen Frankenthaler, Artemisia Gentileschi, Maggi Hambling, Carmen Herrera, Gwen John, Frida Kahlo, Tamara de Lempicka, Agnes Martin, Joan Mitchell, Alice Neel, Plautilla Nelli, Georgia O'Keeffe, Paula Rego, Bridget Riley, Jenny Saville, Dana Schutz, Lee Krasner, Yayoi KusamaTrade ReviewAs featured in The Sunday Times, The Art Newspaper and Vanity Fair Included in Glamour's Best Gifts for Women (2022) Included in The Season's Best Art Books (2022) by Vanity Fair 'The editors have truly built a City of Ladies in this brilliant and much-needed book.' – NY Journal of Books 'Groundbreaking ... a catalyst and inspiration for further study that belongs in every art history collection.' – Booklist 'Will leave you inspired, reignited, and ready to blaze a creative trail of your own.' – Design Milk 'A richly rewarding overview capturing the range, depth, and accomplishments of women painters.' – Library Journal

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Combining meticulous scholarship and intellectual heft with an engaging, approachable style is one of the most difficult writing tasks there is, but Davidson makes it seem effortless, using the life, the letters and the novels of Austen as an entry point into her exploration of clothing, its modes of production, its aesthetics, and its social meaning.”—Kerryn Goldsworthy, Sydney Morning Herald“Dress in the Age of Jane Austen is an exemplary model of how to read historical dress—the objects themselves and their presentation in text and images—that was well worth the wait.”—Michele Majer, Costume“[The author] gives fascinating insights into Austen’s appearance and also her attitudes to fashion.”—Matthew Westwood, The Australian“What Davidson generously presents her reader with . . . is a systemic primer of Regency fashion, using Austen’s works and her context as a starting-off point and as the object that the analysis explicates.”—Denise Baxter, Journal of Modern History“Davidson treats historical garments as material objects open to interpretation, helping scholars and fans alike add to the traditional Austen archive by turning textile to text.”—Elyse Martin, Perspectives on History“In a remarkable new book, the textile historian Hilary Davidson uses Austen’s writing as a lens through which to explore the evolving fashions of the Regency period at every level of society. Glorious full-colour illustrations of costumes ranging from linen bodices to silk pantaloons are stitched together with contextual observations to create a comprehensive portrait of late-18th-century life.”—Town & Country UK“Dress in the Age of Jane Austen gives us a detailed and comprehensive analysis of Regency fashion and is to be much welcomed as a single volume survey. . . . The book is beautifully illustrated with thoughtfully chosen, and often unusual or unfamiliar images. . . . For dress historians this book sets a scholarly and inspiring example, which is bound to remain a standard work of reference for this period.”—Penelope Byrd, Journal of Dress HistoryCHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, 2020

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Book SynopsisA radically subversive critique brings to the fore the masculine ideology implicit in psychoanalytic theory and in Western discourse in general: woman is defined as a disadvantaged man, a male construct with no status of her own.Trade ReviewThe publication of these two translations is an event to be celebrated by feminists of all persuasions. * Women's Review of Books *Table of ContentsTHE BLIND SPOT OF AN OLD DREAM OF SYMMETRYWoman, Science's Unknown How Can They Immediately Be So Sure?; The Anatomical Model; A Science That Still Cannot Make Up Its Mind; A Question of Method; What Is Involved in (Re) production, and How It Aids and Abets the Phallic Order; A Difference Not Taken into Account; The Labor "to Become a Woman"The Little Girl Is (Only) a Little Boy An Inferior Little Man; The Cards Turned Over; The Dream Interpreters Themselves; Penis Masturbation: A Necessarily Phallic Auto-eroticism; The Change of "Object" or the Crisis of a Devaluation; The Law of the Self-sameIs Her End in Her Beginning? An Unsuspected Love; The Desire to Have a Child by the Mother; The Father's Seduction: Law but Not Sex; The "Reasons" Why a Girl Hates Her Mother and a Boy Goes on Loving His; An Economy of Primal Desire That Cannot Be Represented; One More ChildAnother "Cause"—Castration As Might Be Expected; The Gaze, Always at Stake; Anatomy Is "Destiny"; What the Father's Discourse Covers Up; The Negative in Phallocentric Dialectic; Is Working Out the Death Drives Limited to Men Only?"Penis-Envy" Waiting in Vain; An Indirect Sublimation; "Envy" or "Desire" for the Penis?; Repression, or Inexorable Censorship?; Mimesis ImposedA Painful Way to Become a Woman And the Father, Neutral and Benevolent, Washes His Hands of the Matter; A (Female) A-Sex?; Is the Oedipus Complex Universal or Not?; Free Association on OnanismA Very Black Sexuality? Symptoms Almost Like Those of Melancholia; A Setback She Cannot Mourn; That Open Wound That Draws Everything to Itself; That Necessary Remainder: HysteriaThe Penis = the Father's Child The Primacy of Anal Erotism; Those Party to a Certain Lease; Woman Island Also Mother; Forbidden Games; The Hymen of Oedipus, Father and SonThe Deferred Action of Castration Capitalism without Complexes; The Metaphorical Veil of the Eternal Feminine; The Other Side of History; The Submission of a Slave?; A Super-ego That Rather Despises the Female SexAn Indispensable Wave of Passivity A Redistribution of Partial Instincts, Especially Sadistic-anal Instincts; "There Is Only One Libido"; Idealization, What Is One's Own; The (Re)productive Organ; Confirmation of FrigidityFemale Hom(m)osexuality The "Constitutional Factor" Is Decisive; Homosexual Choice Clearly Expounded; A Cure Fails for Lack of Transference(s); Female SamenessAn Impracticable Sexual Relationship An Ideal Love; Were It Not for Her Mother?; Or Her Mother-in-law?; Squaring the Family Circle; Generation Gap, or Being Historically out of Phase?; Woman's Enigmatic Bisexuality"Woman Is a Woman as a Result of a Certain Lack of Characteristics" An Ex-orbitant Narcissism; The Vanity of a Commodity; The Shame That Demands Vicious Conformity; Women Have Never Invented Anything but Weaving; A Very Envious Nature; Society Holds No Interest for Women; A Fault in Sublimation; "La Femme de Trente Ans"SPECULUM Any Theory of the "Subject" Has Always Been Appropriated by the "Masculine" Kore: Young Virgin, Pupil of the Eye On the Index of Plato's Works: Woman How to Conceive (of) a Girl Une Mère de Glace "... and if, taking the eye of a man recently dead... " La Mystérique Paradox A Priori The Eternal Irony of the Community Volume-FluidityPLATO'S HysteriaThe Stage Setup Turned Upside-down and Back-to-front; Special Status for the Side Opposite; A Fire in the Image of a Sun; The Forgotten Path; Paraphragm/Diaphragm; The Magic Show; A Waste of Time?; A Specular CaveThe Dialogues One Speaks, the Others Are Silent; Like Ourselves, They Submit to a Like Principle of Identity; Provided They Have a Head, Turned in the Right Direction; What Is = What They See, and Vice Versa; The A-letheia, a Necessary Denegation among Men; Even Her Voice Is Taken Away from Echo; A Double Topographic Error, Its ConsequencesThe Avoidance of (Masculine) Hysteria A Hypnotic Method; That Buries and Forbids "Madness"; A Remainder of Aphasia; The Misprison of Difference; The Unreflected Dazzle of SeductionThe "Way Out" of the Cave The "Passage"; A Difficult Delivery; Then Whence and How Does He Get Out?; A World Peopled by GhostsThe Time Needed to Focus and Adjust the Vision Impossible to Turn Back (or Over); Were It Not, Right Now, for a Sophistry Played with Doubles; A Frozen Nature; The Auto... Taken in by the A-letheia; Bastard or Legitimate Offspring?The Father's Vision: Engendering with No History of Problems A Hymen of Glass/Ice; The Unbegotten Begetter; Exorcism of the Dark Night; Astrology as Thaumaturgy: A Semblance (of a) Sun; A Question of PropertyA Form That Is Always the Same The Passage Confusing Big and Little, and Vice Versa; The Standard Itself/Himself; Better to Revolve upon Oneself-But This Is Possible Only for God-the-Father; The Mother, Happily, Does Not Remember; A Source-mirror of All That Is; The Analysis of That Projection Will Never Take (or Have Taken) PlaceCompletion of the Paideia The Failings of an Organ That Is Still Too Sensible; A Seminar in Good Working Order; An Immaculate Conception; The Deferred Action of an Ideal Jouissance; The End of ChildhoodLife in Philosophy Always the Same (He); An Autistic Completeness; Love Turned Away from Inferior Species and Genera/Gender; The Privilege of the Immortals; The Science of Desire; A Kore Dilated to the Whole Field of the Gaze and Mirroring HerselfDivine Knowledge The Back Reserved for God; The Divine Mystery; This Power Cannot Be Imitated by Mortals; How, Then, Can They Evaluate Their Potency?; Except over Someone Like Themselves?; The Father Knows the Front Side and Back Side of Everything, at Least in Theory; The Meaning of Death for a PhilosopherAn Unarticulated/Inarticulate Go-Between: The Split between Sensible and Intelligible A Failure of Relations between the Father and Mother; A One-way Passage; Compulsory Participation in the Attributes of the Type; A Misprized Incest and an Unrealizable IncestReturn to the Name of the Father The Impossible Regression toward the Mother; A Competition the Philosopher Will Decline to Enter; Two Modes of Repetition: Property and Proximity; Better to Work the Earth on the Father's Account Than to Return to It: Metaphor/Metonymy; The Threat of Castration"Woman's" Jouissance A Dead Cave Which Puts Representation Back into Play; That Marvelously Solitary Pleasure of God; A Diagonal Helps to Temper the Excessiveness of the One; The Infinite of an Ideal Which Covers the Slit (of a) Void; Losing Sight of "the Other"; The Vengeance of Children Freed from Their Chains

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Book SynopsisFantomina, or, Love in a Maze is a novella by Eliza Haywood which charts an unnamed female protagonist’s pursuit of the charming, shallow Beauplaisir. Dealing with major themes such as identity, class and sexual desire, and first published in 1725, Fantomina subverts the popular ‘persecuted maiden’ narrative, and reaches a climax which would have shocked its contemporary readership. Moving to London, a young woman – let’s call her Fantomina – meets a dashing man at the theatre. After a short, but intense, fling, Beauplaisir grows bored of Fantomina, and leaves her. Outraged that she should be so treated, Fantomina discards her disguise in favour of another, and sets off in hot pursuit of her victim, and a game of cat and mouse begins. This edition features an introduction by Dr Sarah R. Creel, Bethany E. Qualls and Dr Anna K. Sagal of the International Eliza Haywood Society.Trade Review'[It] is right to deplore "Haywood's invisibility to modern political historians", but now we see her in focus, she matters for the imaginative power of her writing.' (Thomas Keymer, London Review of Books) 'Haywood's place in literary history is equally remarkable and as neglected, misunderstood and misrepresented as her oeuvre.' (Paula R. Backscheider)Table of ContentsIntroduction; Fantomina, or, Love in a Maze; Note on the Text

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Book SynopsisINSIDE IRAN'S NEW REVOLUTIONI've stopped pulling up my scarf to cover my hair when I pass by the guards. I know that nothing can stop one of them from raising his gun and targeting me. But this is for the greater good.Following the death of Mahsa-Jina Amini in September 2022, the angry cries of the Iranian people have rung out in the streets. Citizens of all ages and backgrounds come together to call for an end to the regime's injustice, violence and repression, chanting 'Woman, life, freedom'.The current protests are the most widespread and important the country has seen since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. But they are also part of a long struggle for women's rights in Iran. In this incisive, moving narrative, an anonymous Iranian woman describes her daily activism in the streets of Tehran, and shows it to be part of a long and powerful tradition of female resistance.Translated by Poupeh Missaghi.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Brown­stein set out to record her mother’s sto­ry and the rich his­to­ry of Jew­ish immi­gra­tion and women’s lives that it encap­su­lat­ed. In the result­ing book, [she] cap­tures the com­plex­i­ty, courage, wit, and pains not only of her moth­er but also of an entire gen­er­a­tion of Jew­ish women. . . . [It] is a mosa­ic of the ways that mem­o­ry cre­ates real­i­ty, and how the retelling of sto­ries shapes inter­gen­er­a­tional iden­ti­ties, belong­ings, and challenges.” * Jewish Book Council *“This memoir is a delightful evocation of a richly expressive world with an altogether worthy protagonist at its center.” * Vivian Gornick *“From the moment I started American Born, I was captivated by the voices calling out to me from every page. Voices that made me laugh, broke my heart, and reminded me that every family’s story is fragile. Brownstein has written an enchantingly engaging and profoundly honest book about memories, exile, legacies, aging, grief, and our collective and endless need for joy. You must read American Born—especially if your family wasn’t.” * Gina Barreca, author of They Used to Call Me Snow White . . . But I Drifted *“American Born is a wonderfully warm and deeply engaging memoir. I loved reading about Grandma Rose, old New York, and a familiar Jewish experience.” * Julie Klam, author of The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters: A True Story of Family Fiction *“Sociable, energetic, and resilient—a young woman whose inclination was to ‘go where all the cars were going’—Brownstein’s mother was American born. But she was also an immigrant proud to be exactly who she was. Out of this paradox, Brownstein weaves a warm and perceptive account of personal courage in the making of an American family. I loved this book. And everyone with an immigrant in the family will love it too.” * Alice Kessler-Harris, author of A Difficult Woman: The Challenging Life and Times of Lillian Hellman *“In this beautiful mother-daughter memoir, Brownstein’s keen intelligence about character is richly evident, as is her sense of how Yiddish worked in families, in songs, on the street—what people carried from the old country in their linguistic baggage. Each individual chapter blends in elements from the others, creating a full immersion in Grandma Rose’s world that is truly Proustian in its social intelligence.” * Alice Kaplan, author of French Lessons: A Memoir *“More than a memoir, American Born is also an extended personal essay, a search through archive and memory, pondering the historical reality of this life. Above all, it is a treasure—a valuable addition not only to American immigration history but to the history of twentieth-century European identity.” * Patricia Hampl, author of The Art of the Wasted Day *Table of ContentsPreface One: Columbusns Medina Two: Characters and Character Three: Mielec Four: Shaping Narratives Five: Love Story Six: Piecework Afterword: 2021 Acknowledgments Notes

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Book SynopsisA classic of twentieth-century American autobiography now back in print with previously unpublished material from the author’s archiveTrade Review"Originally published by Black Sparrow Press and now saved from obscurity, this sonorous autobiography from painter and poet Oppen chronicles the lives of two literary soul mates. Although George won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1969, Mary’s memoir is by no means in his shadow; their love and intellectual union is rhapsodically mutual and an inspiring achievement to behold. The author divined meaning and guidance from the literary lives around her and channeled those forces into a passionate memoir that will continue to resound with readers even decades after its publication." -- Kirkus"Now, when we are more atomized than ever — by partisanship and political lies, by contagion and its economic fallout — reading Mary’s autobiography reminds us that life is important, but that living is a means to an end, not an end in itself. The end is, as she tells us from the start, meaning" -- Los Angeles Review of Books

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Book SynopsisRADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEKTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER''I couldn''t put it down. . . an important book, raw and simple enough that you can''t help but feel it deeply'' James Rebanks, author of The Shepherd''s LifeTalented and ambitious, Monica Potts and her best friend, Darci, were both determined to make something of themselves. How did their lives turn out so different? Growing up gifted and working-class in the foothills of the Ozarks, Monica and Darci became fast friends. Bonding over a shared love of learning, they pored over the giant map in their classroom, tracing their fingers over the world that awaited them, vowing to escape their broken town. In the end, Monica left Clinton for university and fulfilled her dreams. Darci, along with many in their circle of friends, did not. Years later, working as a journalist covering poverty, Monica discovers what she already intuitively knew about the women in ArkanTrade ReviewThink Elena Ferrante and My Brilliant Friend. Potts is excellent at showing how the political sentiments that white, poorly educated women uphold ultimately circumscribe their lives. In many ways it's a universal story: rural Britain fits this mould too -- Francesca Angelini * The Sunday Times *The Forgotten Girls rings with authenticity, a powerful, personal analysis of how women in poor, white, religious societies suffer. This, it struck me, isn't just an American story; it's the American story -- Melanie Reid * The Times *A modern classic on deprivation and the fine margins that exist between a life of plenty and one of relentless hardship * Prospect Magazine, Best Books of the Year *A deeply moving story of growing up in America's Bible Belt. I thought about it for days afterwards -- Francesca Steele * I News *The Forgotten Girls is a lament for lost opportunities and wasted lives; a controlled expression of rage at a system that fails so many even as it exploits their despair -- Stephanie Merritt * The Observer *At its heart an intensely moving, personal story of unbreakable friendship, this, like Tara Westover's Educated, is a book that packs a much wider resonance at a time when the gap between rich and poor grows ever wider across the world. It asks vital questions about life chances; and the seeming randomness of who gets them, and who doesn't -- Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller, Non-Fiction Book of the Month *This is a patient, heartfelt description of the dark side of the American dream, a once vibrant community abandoned by global capitalism, and prey to any demagogue promising to 'Make America Great Again' * The Tablet *Not everyone can live the American Dream in the Land of the Free, as Monica Potts discovers when she returns to her Arkansas hometown to investigate the drop in life expectancy in women in rural areas. In The Forgotten Girls, she reconnects with an old friend who has fallen into a common cycle of poverty and opioid abuse. This autobiographical tale tells a very different American Story, rife with systemic injustices and societal constraints -- Rhiannon Thomas * Radio Times *Tender, perceptive, important - and heartbreaking -- Lee ChildI couldn't put it down. . . American culture has a toxic forgetting at its heart, a forgetting about communities that have lost their way and a blindness to why they fail. It made me think of so many people's lives in small towns and rural areas in Britain -- a powerful reminder that when you forget about people and consign them to eternity in failing places, then you create something deeply harmful for all of us. It is an important book, raw and simple enough that you can't help but feel it deeply -- James Rebanks, author of English PastoralA tender memoir of a lifelong friendship and a shocking account of hardship in rural America, The Forgotten Girls is beautifully written, painstakingly researched and deeply affecting -- Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the TrainThe Forgotten Girls is much more than a memoir; it's the unflinching story of rural women trying to live in the most rugged, ultra-religious and left-behind places in America. Rendering what she sees with poignancy and whip-smart analyses, Monica Potts took a gutsy, open-hearted journey home and turned it into art -- Beth Macy, author of DopesickBeautiful and hard, a deeply reported memoir of a place, a friendship, a childhood and a country riven by systemic injustices transformed into individual tragedies. Monica Potts is a gifted writer; I read this extraordinary story of friendship and sisterhood, ambition and loss in rural America in one sitting; it is propulsive, clear and really important -- Rebecca Traister, author of Good and MadMonica Potts tells a compelling story of grief and friendship rooted in the cycles of generational pain in rural Arkansas. Her story of growing up in Clinton, needing to leave, and the compulsion to return to a place of love and disappointment is a devastating tale of the suffering writ large across the dislocated American heartland. -- Helen Thompson, author of DisorderA deeply personal memoir of childhood. Potts has created a complicated tribute to her friend and to a generation 'set up for failure' -- Katy Guest * The Mail on Sunday *A troubling tale of heartland America in cardiac arrest, of friendship tested, of meth and Sonic burgers and every other kind of bad nourishment, of what we have let happen to our rural towns, and what they have invited on themselves. A personal and highly readable story about two women in a small cranny of America, but which offers an illuminating panorama of where our country stands -- Sam Quinones, author of DreamlandIn a landscape where writing grounded in true events is expected to be either objective reporting about events from which the writer is fully detached or confessional lived experience, Monica Potts has created a rare mix of reportage and memoir that brings the best of both forms to bear on an empathetic and nuanced examination, told from an insider's perspective, of what it means to be working class, white, and female in America today -- Emma Copley Eisenberg, author of The Third Rainbow GirlA masterly labour of love. In its unflinching exploration of character, circumstance and destiny, it's perfect. * Prospect Magazine *

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Book Synopsis''One of the great social historians of our time. No one else makes history this fun'' Amanda Foreman''How Was It For You? subtly but powerfully subverts complacent male assumptions about a legendary decade'' David Kynaston--------------------------------A feeling that we could do whatever we liked swept through us in the 60s . . .The sixties: a decade of space travel, utopian dreams and - above all - sexual revolution. It liberated a generation. But mostly men.Meet dollybird Mavis, debutante Kristina, bunny girl Patsy, industrial campaigner Mary and countercultural Caroline. From Carnaby Street to Merseyside, white gloves to Black is Beautiful, their stories illustrate a turbulent power struggle, throwing an unsparing spotlight on morals, drugs, race, bomb culture and sex.This is a moving, shocking book about tearing up the world and starting again. It''s about peace, love and psychedelia, but also misogynyTrade ReviewVirginia Nicholson is one of the great social historians of our time, and How Was It For You? is another jewel in her crown. No one else makes makes history this fun -- Amanda ForemanThey say that if you remember the 1960s you weren't really there. But if you really weren't, then the next best thing is to read this fascinating book. With the meticulous attention worthy of a Vidal Sassoon haircut, Virginia Nicholson has shaped her dazzling kaleidoscope of facts, feelings and observations, into a razor-sharp account of the women who lived through that tumultuous decade -- Juliet NicolsonEssential reading for all those who lived through it, and for those who came after -- Marina Lewycka, author of A Short History of Tractors in UkrainianIntimate, immersive, often moving, How Was It For You? subtly but powerfully subverts complacent male assumptions about a legendary decade -- David KynastonHow Was It For You? brings it all back. As always Virginia Nicholson's book is full of fascinating history and fascinating new material. It makes it feel like the Sixties have never been away, which they never have been, as far as I'm concerned. Wonderful -- Hunter DaviesA hugely ambitious, kaleidoscope of a book, written in a sympathetic but also hard-headed tone that captures squalor and tragedy as well as glamour -- Richard Vinen, author of The Long '68Virginia Nicholson's social history of the lives of women during the 1960s is an absorbing study of an extraordinary age. Beautifully written and intensively researched, it covers a wide range of characters and many levels of society, uncovering with remarkable perspicacity a world of rebellion and change. I am sure How Was It for You? will remain a vital study for many years to come -- Selina HastingsWritten with verve, wit and empathy, this account of the 1960s skilfully interweaves the lives of individual women with broader social and cultural changes. Virginia Nicholson nudges the reader to reconsider the well- beaten tracks and to reflect upon out-of-the-way experiences. Best of all How Was It For You? neither idealises nor excoriates the bouncy, controversial decade -- Sheila RowbothamEvery baby boomer should read this great and wonderfully revelatory book if only to shout, 'Ah yes, that's exactly what it was like for me!' -- Anne Sebba, author of Les ParisiennesFor those of us who missed the 60's, Virginia Nicholson catapults this era to roaring, authentic life. Rich with intimate voices and a keen edged analysis of the public perceptions at work, this book brilliantly evokes the struggle between the urgent change and the heavily freighted forces of tradition that defined this singularly compelling decade. Read it. It is unputdownable -- Priya ParmarA tremendous achievement... a triumph of research and organisation - but also of sympathy * Observer on Millions Like Us *An important and humane book of female social history * The Times on Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes *A ground-breaking book, richly nuanced with titbits of information, insight and understanding * Daily Mail on Singled Out *Virginia Nicholson is the outstanding recorder of British lives in the twentieth century. She has told us how it was for British women - and therefore of course for men and children - in the twentieth century. The formidable research and sympathetic understanding of so many different lives make this account of the 1960s - that swinging, sexy, revolutionary decade - the most vivid and moving of all her works. A fascinating decade, a fascinating book -- Carmen Callil, author of Bad FaithI loved this. Yes, the 1960s were good fun, sometimes. But Virginia Nicholson forensically unpicks what "promiscuity" really meant for flower-chicks, fearful of seeming un-cool. They were perpetuating a society as patriarchal and phallocentric as ever - even in the counter-culture. I was there, and she's right. Amazingly right about so many things. Roll on the 1970s when things did change - but that's for another of her excellent books -- Valerie Grove, author of Laurie LeeSparklingly readable . . . Having read Nicholson's magisterial and sensuous overview of the decade, I feel I'm floating above the Sixties (a bit like Lucy in the Sky) and looking down on them with a new understanding -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * The Times *The stories are terrific -- Rosie Boycott * Financial Times *This vivid comprehensive study brought so many memories flooding back to me! It's a treat for those of us who were around in the sixties, and delightfully instructive for those who weren't -- Dame Jacqueline WilsonSparkling . . . there is a wonderfully diverse range of voices . . . we have a long way to go, but reading this book made me grateful for how far we have come * The Sunday Times *Clever . . . absorbing * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisTells the story of the veils' and headscarves' resurgence, from Egypt through Saudi Arabia and into the West, suggesting a portrait of contemporary Islam.Trade Review"Ms. Ahmed gives us a fascinating portrait of the Muslim Brotherhood, especially of its 'unsung mother,' Zainab al-Ghazali."—Mira Sethi, Wall Street Journal"Ms. Ahmed's narrative deftly captures the mood of the [colonial] era, registering the range of ironies surrounding the status of the veil."—Mira Sethi, Wall Street Journal". . . an acute study of how issues of political power and empire interact with women’s own claims to autonomy within families and communities. Ahmed beds her analysis into the wider political currents of Egypt without ever losing sight of women’s own interpretations of what they were doing and why."—Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian"The portrait of post 9/11 Muslim America that Ahmed offers up in her book is strikingly hopeful, full of individuals, trends, and stories that make her case for this new era's promise."—Time Magazine"The veil may be the most evocative symbol of Islam for many non-Muslim readers, and Ahmed’s treatment of the subject is wide-ranging, discursive, and utterly fascinating."—Library Journal, starred review"A Quiet Revolution is an exceptional study of women in Islam. Their story is a remarkable one, and Leila Ahmed tells it with grace and understanding."—Joseph Preville, Time Out"In the post-9/11 world, as a Leila Ahmed points out in this gripping yet erudite book, the veil worn by women in Western countries such as Britain and America has come to symbolise a range of public postures, from the resistance to Islamophobia or anti-Muslim prejudice experienced on the domestic front, to expressions of support for Muslim women in places such as Iraq, Bosnia, Somalia, or Palestine, exemplified by the group that calls itself ‘ Scarves for Solidarity.’ How is it, Ahmed asks, that a form of head-covering once seen as a symbol of patriarchal oppression can now be regarded as a call for justice?"—Malise Ruthven, Literary Review Selected by the ALA for the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf on Muslim Journeys project Winner of the 2013 Grawemeyer Award in Religion, given jointly by the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the University of Louisville"Leila Ahmed takes a subject that arouses great emotion, shows how the resurgence of veiling has come about, and explains with great clarity what it means. Ahmed's learned and engaging argument should make all readers examine their prejudices. This valuable and much needed introduction to major trends in the modern Muslim world leads to some novel and surprising conclusions. An important book, it should be required reading for journalists, educationalists, politicians and religious leaders."—Karen Armstrong, Author, A History of God"Leila Ahmed 's views on women, Islam and Islamism are not only interesting but courageous and need to be read and debated. Her new book brings the critical historical perspective necessary to understand the deep and quiet revolution that is occurring among American Muslims."—Tariq Ramadan, University of Oxford"A powerful and critically important analysis of the veil’s modern history and reemergence in our time. This is a history Leila Ahmed herself has lived through and witnessed, especially in North America. It is compelling reading for the many readers with questions about the veil and its meanings."—Diana Eck, author of A New Religious America"What lies behind the phenomenon of Muslim women wearing 'Islamic dress?' Leila Ahmed provides an engaging tour through nationalism, socialism, Islam, and anti-imperialism in her beautifully written book, weaving together the themes of politics, dress, and women’s changing roles with her usual historical and literary skill. A fascinating read."—Jane Smith, Harvard University

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