Adams is clearly very knowledgeable in this area but what he has faced is a lack of information in the recorded archives to make this piece truly come together. This is not his fault, this is a long and harsh truth of history - women have always been an under recognised group so instead of being annoyed with the way this book turned out, I choose, instead, to celebrate the fact it exists.

An anthology of stories about women throughout history. It’s one of many out there today and this one seems to lack a unique focus to make it stand out from the crowd. Perhaps it is the timing of the publication, but it certainly is not a trailblazer.

I picked this book up and put it back down a fair few times, but this was part of the appeal. I enjoyed learning about some pretty amazing women

I read this one a couple of days before Pamela Toler's "Women Warriors" - and to be perfectly honest, I feel like cutting and pasting my review of that book here.

A " ... crafted patchwork of the forgotten lives of some of the most remarkable women in history ..." - only if this is not your area of interest. If it is, then this is merely a collection of things of interest to the author and organised in some sort of chapter according to their subject matter. To me personally, it reminded me of a blog that has been published as a book - some random biographies presented with archaeological discoveries and local histories to add some additional flavour.

Again, as with Toler's book, I have covered off over half of the content in my own blog and have read the very same biographies and internet articles (as I assume anyone with the remotest interest in this area would have also).

Quote: Unquiet Women brings to life the experiences of women whose voices are barely heard and whose stories are rarely told. - sorry, but the last have dozen years (if not last decade) has seen a considerable surge in this type of research, with numerous books, blogs, articles, etc, giving voice to any number of "invisible women" that you could practically trip over it with every corner turned.

Another no star rating here (even though I have to put one to post this review) - I was rather bored, having a constant sense of deja vu the more I read.

Max Adams has a lovely turn of phrase. In Chapter 4, he shows us some medieval women and tells “From such disparate sources, a polyphonic choir of unquiet talents is assembled.”

The book is a collection of broad-brush biographies of women who lived between approximately 350 AD and 1700. Many of these women, it is fair to say, are not household names. Although I had heard of a few, such as Hélöise, Margery Kempe and Celia Fiennes, I was humbled by how few they were.

Adams passes on messages from these women, using documents they have left us, such as letters and wills; descriptions from contemporaries; or by describing their burials and grave goods. He reflects upon the position of women among their peers and in their times, marvelling at the courage and persistence of his chosen speakers.

This is not a light casual read. I found myself trying to read it when my mind was on other things and having to read the passages again when I could focus on them. That is emphatically NOT a criticism, but it is an indication of how dense the material is. Each woman has a part of a chapter to herself (although Adams often uses the tale of one woman to illuminate that of another where appropriate) and I could only manage a few biographies before wanting to stop and reflect. I read the book using the Kindle app so I have to reply upon Amazon’s word that it’s 299 pages and I guess I could only profitably read twenty pages in a sitting.

I’m glad I read the book – and I shall keep it and probably refer to it many times in the future, but I don’t think I would say I enjoyed it. It felt more like a duty to keep going than a pleasure. The word that springs to mind is “Worthy”. If it had grabbed me more and kept me wanting to read it rather than being a little relieved that I could put it down again after each twenty pages, I’d give it more stars.

An interesting premise with a slightly dry execution. I'm always eager to learn tidbits of history about people you don't normally hear about, so I enjoyed the wide range of women discussed in this book - there are figures from all walks of life and professions, across a large time period.

Each of the women discussed sounds fascinating, but I didn't feel that this book really gave very much information about some of them, and the biographies are rather simplistic, listing events and achievements in the manner of a Wikipedia article, rather than attempting to comment on any deeper meaning in these women's actions or writings. It will form a good jumping-off point for further research, and would make a lovely gift for the casual reader, as long as the reader is aware that it doesn't have very much depth. It's a "dip in" book, rather than one to read straight through. However, it's not set out like a coffee table book, but as a historical narrative - I think it just falls uncomfortably between the two. Not light or tight enough for a gift book, not deep or researched enough for a history book.

I also think it's rather unfortunate in general that a book that is supposed to celebrate female achievements is written by a male author, who makes the usual generalisations about the meaning of marriage and motherhood and female sexuality. A touch of sensitivity reading or indeed, passing the idea to a female author, would have made such a difference to the nuance of the text.

Can I get a HELL YESSSSSS for some bad-a$$ women??? I love books that are mini-bio's about historical women - something I can look up to, be inspired by, and see as mentors. It has sufficient detail, and a little bit of fun personality in the writing, and that makes it even better!

Unquiet Women is a well-crafted patchwork of the forgotten lives of some of the most remarkable women in history.

I really enjoy books such as this, discovering more women in history who have done great things is never a bad thing and this book certainly does do that, giving us insight into fantastic women who have made their mark on the world. Adams delivers these women’s live in short bites of information that you can get easily stuck into even if these are delivered maybe a little drily.

The range of women covered in this book is incredible though and really does expand your knowledge on the women and their various talents that put them in this book. This really does make it clear that women throughout history haven’t always been invisble, whether they be nuns, goddesses or queens.

A good book that’s a good starting place to learn all about incredible women. A sort of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls for adults!

2018 marks one-hundred years since some women were allowed the ability to vote in the United Kingdom. That means that, this year the market has been inundated with books that celebrate kick-arse women throughout the ages. Which is great.
Girl power? I am all for it.
But, unfortunately, it is November now (I mean, in some ways, November is also my birthday month so yay me). Which means I have read eleven months worth of books that commemorate the same one-hundred-or-so historical women and I beginning to experience some sort of genre-fatigue.
This means that Unquiet Women has more than likely been allocated a lower rating than it would have been if the book had been released earlier in the year… Although, to be honest, I do not know to what length that is the truth. I have read a whole range of absolutely gorgeous, love-filled books on the subject of historic women and, to stand out in the market this late in the year, the book has to be pretty special and Unquiet Women just… wasn’t. It was dry, dense and to be honest, it turned bloody amazing biographies into writings that bored me to tears.
Turning the stories of the women who walked before us and made the road a little easier to travel into mindless monotony? It takes a bloody lot of work.
Which means that, even though I have had to pass on this particular collection of biographies, I still have some slim hope for something to come and shock me in the latter-half of this month through into December.

I was SO excited to read this book when I initially read the blurb for it, but unfortunately it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The concept itself is compelling: forgotten voices from women throughout History, but it doesn’t quite meet its aim. I had hoped for something similar to the women’s stories featured on the badassoftheweek.com series.

The author is clearly very knowledgeable, and I enjoyed the parts where he talked about his professional experiences and was able to flesh out some of the details. The book itself would work really well as a book to dip in and out of, perhaps reading a few of the accounts at a time. They are short enough for this to be possible. It doesn’t flow very well for longer periods of reading in my opinion as the women tended to blur together in my mind.

As an ex Social Studies teacher, I understand completely how difficult it can be to uncover meaningful evidence of women’s lives during certain periods of History. This book tries to bring life to some of these women, but the information given is often just too vague or tenuous to really get your teeth into. Just as things start to get interesting, it’s time to move onto the next woman. It might have made more sense to provide longer accounts of the more well-known women or those who have more information and evidence available than lots of short little ditties about random Anglo-Saxon noblewomen and weaving (so much weaving….).

Parts of the book reminded me of those moments in a job interview when the interviewer asks you a question and you just try to ramble a bit and hope it sticks. The featured women are largely from Western and Northern Europe which is unfortunate as the few pieces there are about the non-Western women are some of the more interesting in the book.

Overall, I did enjoy parts of this book but it didn’t grab my interest the way I had hoped it would.

I mean all of us hardly learned anything about women in history class and I am delighted that everyday more books are popping up about brave and courageous women and their history. We do need more of those books.

However "Unquiet Women" was a bit too dry and boring for my taste. I guess I went into it with wrong expectations.
I feel the author tried to make it not as academic and to make it more accessible for a wider range of readers.
A few of the stories I liked more than others. My favorites would be Empress Wu Zhao and Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir.

I wouldn't really pick this book up again. It certainly made for an interesting read, but I could only recommend it to people who like to read historical non-fiction.

Thank you Head of Zeus and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC.

An entertaining and engaging history book, full of stories of women. Some of them are quite well known, other were a great discovery of interesting characters.
I loved how well explained the profiles are and the huge number of women included.
A very good introduction to women's history and an entertaining and informative read.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Head of Zeus and Netgalley for this ARC

An interesting book all around. It discusses the role of women within the eyes of history.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Head of Zeus for my ARC for this book. This is in exchange for my honest unbiased review

'When told that "it did not become a woman to be learned, as so few are", she [Christine de Pizan] replied that "it did not become a man to be so ignorant, as so many are" '

This tapestry of women's lives weaves together stories from the fall of Rome through to the C17th century, taking an inclusive look across geographical space to how women have always spoken up, educated themselves, argued, debated and taken up public space and social roles. Not all the women have well-documented lives and, even when they do (e.g. Eloise) Adams goes for outline rather than detail. The impact is in the number and variety of female lives collected here.

Interestingly, Adams' bibliography is strong on 'popular' books and websites making this accessible to the layperson, with only occasional articles from academic journals. Lively, entertaining but with serious feminist undertones, this is an excellent introduction to the legacy and traditions of female participation and interventions in social cultures.