The Warrior Queens: The Legends and the Lives of the Women Who Have Led Their Nations in War

This book explores the history, role, and images of several women in history who, while not all were sword-wielding battlefield warrior Amazons, came to positions of great influence and power, some by their great abilities and others by inheritance or association. This includes the popular British Boudica, Queen Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great (Russia), and lesser known ones (at...more

This book explores the history, role, and images of several women in history who, while not all were sword-wielding battlefield warrior Amazons, came to positions of great influence and power, some by their great abilities and others by inheritance or association. This includes the popular British Boudica, Queen Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great (Russia), and lesser known ones (at least, outside their own cultural lineage) such as Mathilda of Tuscany, Rani of Jhansi (India), etc. More interestingly, the author presents viewpoints of how these women were perceived by their contemporaries and historians, especially males, and contrasts this with historical fact, and sometimes, legends. She identifies "syndromes" that mark the circumstances they were faced with, the symbols they became, and the traits that were applied to them, some accurately, others quite chauvinistically. As the author is English, so are the views from that of British history, in particular, the age of the British Empire. Most of the women explored are European or from nations which the British had direct dealings with, such as Africa and India. It would be interesting to include greater coverage of other cultures, including Asian, Middle Eastern, Nordic, and South and Central American cultures.   hide