The Warrior Queens - Softcover

Fraser, Antonia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0749316756 ISBN 13: 9780749316754

Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd, 1993

Synopsis

From the pacific to the belligerent, they include Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I, Isabella of Spain, the Rani of Jhansi and Queen Jinga of Angola. Antonia Fraser's warrior queens are those women who have both ruled and led in war. Taking Boadicea as the definitive example, her choice of female champions from other ages and civilizations aims to present an awesome assembly. This book is more than a biographical selection however, the author is interested in the way that her heroines have held and wrested the reins of power from their - consistently male - adversaries. If Boadicea's apocryphal chariot has ensured her place in history, what then are the myths that surround the others? And how different are the democratically elected - if less regal - warrior queens of our own time: Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir and Margaret Thatcher? Antonia Fraser is the author of three historical biographies: "Mary Queen of Scots", "Cromwell: Our Chief of Men" and "King Charles II". She has also written "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" and "The Weaker Vessel: Woman's Lot in Seventeenth-Century England".

About this title

Review:

"The Warrior Queens is lore-packed...and fascinating to read....Fraser has assembled a remarkable group of women for our contemplation....They have outmaneuvered, outtalked, outblustered, and in some cases outshot and outridden the cream of the crop.... Fraser is to be congratulated for rescuing them from their own myths and for giving them their due as individuals." -- Margaret Atwood, Los Angeles Times Book Review "Fascinating...it is a pleasure to encounter the kind of quick and lively mind that informs every page...the bright and steady pilot light of Antonia Fraser's intelligence." -- The New York Times Book Review "Antonia Fraser's The Warrior Queens is an intelligent and artful study of women rulers who commanded in battle.... Ms. Fraser at once clarifies history and suggests the many ways that myths betray history.... She holds our attention and she misses nothing." -- The New Yorker "Lady Antonia catches fire.... There is humor. There is lots of fascinating detail on the sexual mythology that has surrounded most women rulers. There is real insight into how women wield power.... There is a pleasure in having the stories of so many remarkable women gathered in one place." -- Chicago Sun-Times "Cleopatra, Zenobia, Tamara, Jinga Mbandi of Angola, Catherine the Great and Caterina Sforza, England's two Matildas and Tuscany's one, the beautiful Queen Louise of Prussia and Queen Elizabeth I of England, the names roll on as these women led their countries into victory and defeat.... Fraser, always a diligent historian, has... become a graceful writer and achieved the formidable task of winding a variety of women and countries onto one skein." -- Cleveland Plain-Dealer"From the Trade Paperback edition.

Book Description:

An inspired evaluation of women leaders in war by a bestselling historian

About this edition

• Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0749316756
• ISBN 13: 9780749316754
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400