A Woman's World, 1850–1960

A Women's World , 1850-1960 by Dan Jones & Marina Amaral

A absolute must read , a copy should be in every library, and education establishment.
It was very interesting to educate myself on the great women this book introduces us to, many I had not heard about before.
5 stars.

A lovely book full of beautiful pictures of some of the most important women in history, most I didn’t even know about! I loved the quick biographies accompanying each photo and went away to read more about some of the women.
Like Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls…for women!

‘Welcome to A Woman’s World.’

This is the third book in a series, a collaboration between historian Dan Jones and Marina Amaral, a digital colourist who specializes in adding colour to black and white photographs: ‘breathing life into the past’.

While I have not yet read the other two books in this series, I was intrigued to find out which women would be included. There are eleven headings used, covering the cultural, domestic, professional and social roles played by women:
Women at Play
Women in School
Women at the Wheel
Women at War
Women in Charge
Women in the Arts
Women in the Streets
Women on Stage
Women in the Wild
Women on the Shop floor
Women in White Coats.

I was delighted to see Fanny Cochrane Smith’s inclusion. In 1899 and 1903 she recorded songs on wax cylinders: held in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, these are the only recordings ever made of Tasmanian Aboriginal song and speech.

While I recognised the names of many of the women and their stories, there were other women I had not heard of. The women covered include: Margaret Mead, Eva Peron, Virginia Woolf, Marie Curie, Anna J Cooper, Dr Hü King Eng , Agnes Maitland, Edith Cavell, Martha Gellhorn, Rosa Parks, Sunity Devee, Frida Kahlo and Gertrude Bell.

‘We give you this compilation in the spirit that we first imagined it: as a bright and colourful journey through a great historical age, in the company of some of the most brilliant people who lived in it!’

An interesting look at the contribution of women across many different fields before second-wave feminism.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for
review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

A fascinating read that spans a century celebrating the inspiring and ground-breaking achievements of women in the worlds of sports, arts, science, politics, fashion, etc.
It is an important historical compilation that contains beautifully colour-restored versions of the original black and white photographs. It would grace any bookshelf (or coffee table).

I loved the quote by Martha Gellhorn (wife of Ernest Hemingway): “Why should I merely be a footnote in his life?”
My thoughts? The world would be a poorer place had the women featured here reverted to stereotype.

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for granting this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Woman’s World 1850-1960 is an amazing archive of women whose contributions to women’s rights, science, engineering, health and society has been largely overlooked for too long. The book contained the well-known as well as a lot that I had no idea about, all with accompanying coloured photographs. It was a joy and a privilege to read about these intelligent and enterprising people.

Historian Dan Jones has written a timely book about the achievements of unsung women whose contributions throughout history to areas such as women’s rights, science, engineering, health and society in general have been overlooked. The book contains a mix of famous women alongside less-well known ones, and the accompanying photographs by Marina Amaral really bring these heroines to life.
On the whole, it was very interesting to read about such creative and intelligent people and I strongly recommend this book.

An amazing, informative, and visually stunning book that I loved and made me learn something new about women's roles in the past.
Well known and anonymous women, great pictures and interesting text.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Really interesting. I liked the organisation into thematic chapters. Great to see these women brought to life.

So many women during this time worked hard and were not always recognised or respected. Lovely book to dip into and learn about them and be inspired to find out more.
Third volume in the series and well worth a read, enjoy.

What a fabulous book! Packed full of widely historical pictures of women throughout the ages being amazing!