Sam M. reviewed on 10/13/2005 + 109 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

Okay, you've heard of Sappho, Nefertiti, maybe even the pharaoh Hatshepsut and the warrior queen Tomyris. But what about the murderous Macedonian queen Arsinoe, the Talmudic teacher Beruria, the Greek priestess Lysimache, or Audata-Eurydice, Philip of Macedon's horse-riding Illyrian queen? And then there is Kisaya, a Sumerian slave who sued for the right to choose her own husband. Leon has collected hundreds of historical women's names and the facts about the lives of those who bore them. Where very little is known, she fleshes out the text with fascinating cultural tidbits. Rendered in a zippy tone, such stuff makes delightful reading.

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