From Eve to Dawn, A History of Women in the World, Volume I: Origins: From Prehistory to the First Millennium Book

I was first introduced to Marilyn French as an enthusiastic college student entering the world of radical feminism. I came across references to The Women's Room repeatedly in my personal studies of feminist history and theory, and finally had to sit down and read it. I read the book in less than a week, and it had an enormous impact on my feminism and overall politics. When I heard Marilyn French had written a multi-volume anthology on the history of women, I was intrigued.

While I can't say that I read this book in less than a week (the book runs 516 pages), the final volume of the four-volume From Eve to Dawn series, Revolutions and Struggles for Justice in the 20th Century, was far from disappointing. While nonfiction and very academic, the history kept me turning pages for the same reason that The Women's Room did. Revolutions and Struggles for Justice in the 20th Century is unashamedly feminist and provides readers with a world history from the perspective of women's struggles for justice in a capitalistic and misogynistic world.

The anthology starts out with a brilliant overview of socialist movements in Europe. It begins with the story of Rozalia Luksenburg, a physically disabled Jew from Poland who overcame her physical barriers to become one of the most influential voices of the socialist movement in Eastern Europe, both attacking and gaining great respect from Lenin. It was during this time (early twentieth century) that the observance of International Women's Day began, initiated by Clara Zetkin, a fellow socialist revolutionary. After providing a comprehensive history of socialist movements in Europe, French covers anti-imperialism in Latin America, India, and Africa before moving on to a history of feminism itself.

I appreciated French's inclusion of women's and feminists histories that are little known, even to Women's Studies majors such as myself. For instance, I was surprised and intrigued to know that in Japan, the feminist movement was started largely by men who saw the advancement of women as vital to their cultural preservation and relevance in the world. However, when women decided to follow men in wearing their hair short, it was decreed illegal and required that a woman prove she had medical reasons for cutting her hair.

Given the abundance of meticulous detail in the history, it is astounding to think that this is the final edition in a four-volume series. French ends her anthology discussing the future of feminism and proposes alternatives to the current state of the movement in order to achieve our ideals. The conclusion of the book very much acts as the climax of this history and serves as a celebration of womanhood. My favorite line is in the closing chapters of the book when Marilyn French reminds us that feminism "is a revolution one can dance at. Its ends and means stress cooperation, felicity and the fostering of life."

The From Eve to Dawn series is the very personification of this statement and a must-read for any women's history enthusiast. I can't wait to get my hands on the previous volumes.

Review by Janice Formichella