INTRODUCTION
“Women Do Not Fight”
CHAPTER ONE
Don’t Mess with Mama
CHAPTER TWO
Her Father’s Daughter
CHECKPOINT: Her Mother’s Daughter
CHAPTER THREE
The Widow’s Rampage
CHAPTER FOUR
The Most Powerful Piece on the Chessboard
CHECKPOINT: Queen in All but Name
CHAPTER FIVE
Joan of Arc of [Fill in the Blank]
CHAPTER SIX
Wo-manning the Ramparts
CHECKPOINT: Molly Pitcher(s)?
CHAPTER SEVEN
In Disguise
CHAPTER EIGHT
No Disguise Needed
CHECKPOINT: Was She or Wasn’t She?
CONCLUSION
Insignificant Exceptions?
Suggested Reading and Resources
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
Image credits
Pamela D. Toler goes beyond the familiar boundaries of American history to tell stories from other parts of the world, as well as history from the other side of the battlefield, the gender line, or the color bar. She is author of The Heroines of Mercy Street- The Real Nurses of the Civil War, among other books. Her work has appeared in Aramco World, Calliope, History Channel Magazine, MHQ- The Quarterly Journal of Military History, and on Time.com.
“Toler blows past all expectations with this thoroughly delightful,
personable, and crucially important history of women warriors.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review
“Toler seeks out courageous women of history who ‘have been pushed
into the shadows, hidden in the footnotes, or half-erased . . . . A
short book admirable for wide research.’”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Entertaining and colorful.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This entertaining and informative history of women warriors
briskly covers huge swathes of time and place, arguing for the
significance of a phenomenon as old as warfare itself.”
—Julia Kastner (librarian), Shelf Awareness
“Lucid and lively, Pamela Toler’s delightfully complex history of
women’s presence on the battlefield debunks the myth that women
have not been and therefore cannot be warriors. It is a welcome
contribution to the growing body of work that seeks to bring women
out of the shadows of history, in this case the particularly male
world of military history.”
—Anne Boyd Rioux, author of Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little
Women and Why It Still Matters
“Pamela Toler’s exhilarating accounts of so many women who went to
war, around the world, from antiquity to the present, and for so
many different reasons, finally puts to rest the tired old
arguments that only men are fit for combat.”
—Adrienne Mayor, author of The Amazons: Lives and Legends of
Warrior Women Across the Ancient World
“Pamela Toler’s writing never fails to delight me. In Women
Warriors, she is like that best friend who is just way smarter than
you, whose witty and engaging explanations help you see the past in
a brand-new light. Toler takes you on a whirlwind tour through
history and around the world, sharing stories about the hidden
history of women who have led in military battle, elucidating the
reasons why women’s long history in combat has often been hidden.
Toler is a first-rate scholar who truly knows her stuff, and yet
she imparts her wisdom with a light and engaging touch.”
—Elizabeth Letts, author of the New York Times bestseller The
Perfect Horse
“In Women Warriors: An Unexpected History, self-described ‘academic
renegade’ Pamela D. Toler has crafted a smart and highly
entertaining chronicle of female fighters. Working across centuries
and continents, Toler introduces readers to a host of colorful,
courageous women who proved themselves as formidable foes on the
battlefield, outwitting and overpowering their male adversaries
along the way. From Boudica, who led a rebellion against the Roman
Empire, to Maria Bochkareva, who commanded Russia’s first
all-female battalion during World War II, we meet countless
forgotten sister soldiers who acted with valor and verve. Toler may
call this history unexpected, but readers will consider it a
necessary and most welcome addition to the current literature about
women and war.”
—Paige Bowers, author of The General’s Niece: The Little-Known de
Gaulle Who Fought to Free Occupied France
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