Reviews for Women's History in Global Perspective, Vol. 1

The average rating for Women's History in Global Perspective, Vol. 1 based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-06-07 00:00:00 Robert B Swink Readers unfamiliar with academic history may be surprised to hear that the second part of this title is probably more controversial than the first. Women's/gender/feminist history certainly has its detractors, but these are increasingly found only outside of the field, while even many conservative historians have come to accept (at least) that including some mention of women's experience adds seasoning to discussions of historical topics. "Global perspectives," or world/global history, may be harder to swallow. No historian, or group of historians, can truly claim to have studied the history of the entire world, even if they limit their subject area to one relatively small aspect of that world. As progressive historians become increasingly critical of narratives which focus only on Europe and the United States (or, sometimes, other Anglophone former colonies like Canada and Australia), it is of course logical to attempt to broaden that understanding by making more inclusive narratives to replace them, but can one really expect students or teachers to grasp "global" history? Many historians would say no. The historians involved in producing this volume, the first in a series of books intended to explore the subject to provide pedagogical tools for World History or World Civilization curricula, are attempting to say "yes," however. Bonnie Smith, the editor, is a first class gender historian, whose work began largely centered on Europe, but which has gradually expanded to an increasingly "global" approach. This volume offers thoughtful essays on large-scale topics such as theory, family, work, religion, and race, which affect and are affected by women throughout the world. While at times the size of the task threatens to overwhelm the authors (as in the case of the religious article, which narrows to focus on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, missing many significant religions by definition), in general the authors do offer very broad interpretations that avoid regional-centralism. These authors include established historians like Alice Kessler-Harris and Margaret Strobel, but also lesser-known authors from varying parts of the world. I note that the later volumes in the series shifted to focusing on one region of the world at a time, so this may be the best opportunity to see women's and world history unified on a grand scale. It is worth the historian's time just to see the attempt, even if one remains skeptical of its success.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-01-24 00:00:00 Amanda Cardinali They fought for the Motherland is a painstainkingly researched history of Russia's women soldiers in WWI. It is almost overwhelming in its detail. quite a remarkable account. Amust-read for the history buff.