The Underside of History: A View of Women Through Time Hardcover - 1976

From the publisher

Two Volume Set Original Line Drawings by Helen Barchilon Redman The Underside of History, now available in a revised, two-volume edition, offers a new generation of scholars and students an alternative to the traditional courtesans/queens/mothers/and mistresses view of women in history. This classic in feminist literature provides an account of women's creativity in every age from pre-history to the present, and attempts to view women's roles in the context of the total time span of human experience. In clear and elegant prose, the author takes us on a breathtaking tour through time: we move through the hundred-thousand-year wanderings of the Paleolithic into the great transition from hunting and gathering to herding and planting; from life inside city walls to the great primary civilizations of the Middle East and Asia, as well as the feudal civilizations on its fringes; and from the sweep of culture generated by the Greco-Romanic-Islamic empires to "European Enlightenment" and, finally, to the last two centuries and the gradual industrialization-urbanization of the planet. New to this volume is a look at the 20th century women's movement--including a chapter on Third World women--as well as a provocative epilogue entitled "Creating Futures for the 21st Century." When we look at the imbalances regarding women in the social record, we are not simply gleaning information about the status of women: we are getting clues about general imbalances within society at large. For this reason, students, professionals, and practitioners alike will find The Underside of History to be an invigorating intellectual exercise and an essential addition to their libraries. "It is a classic, in all meaningsof the word. This book contains a lot of important information and shows us how to re-vision history and historical data. It won't 'scare' men or newcomers to women's studies." --Elizabeth Moen, University of Colorado, Boulder "Its presentation of this 'forgotten' history is irreplaceable. This book is a treasure house of detail and stories which should not be lost. In addition, it is extremely well written." --Joanna Macy "For anyone teaching gender courses at college or in other education centers, this book is most useful since each chapter gives a complete overview of the question and is followed by a very thorough bibliography which proves very useful." --Andree Michel, Ministere de l'Education Nationale, Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique, Paris "No other book that I know of covers so much. This book ranges from prehistory right up to the present. . . .It therefore becomes not only a text, but a useful reference work as well." --Carol Farley Kessler, Pennsylvania State University, Delaware