History is often told from the perspective of the men, focused on the experiences of men and actions of men.
With this tainted perspective, it can be easy to assume that women simply did not participate much in history, but that is incredibly false. Women have always existed and contributed to history. Their stories have simply been forgotten, erased, or neglected.
When we forget history, we are doomed to repeat it. Misogyny and discrimination is still present in the modern world. The first step to combatting these issues is to promote a sense of understanding.
Every history class teaches countless stories of men, so here are 7 nonfiction books that reveal the forgotten stories of women in history.
The Missing Thread: A Women’s History of the Ancient World by Daisy Dunn
Starting in the Bronze Age and spanning 3,000 years across history, Daisy Dunn’s book retells the history of the ancient world through the perspective of women.
Emperors, kings, and warlords fill traditional written histories of the ancient world. In The Missing Thread, Dunn inverts the story and puts women on the center stage. She features influential women like Enheduanna, the earliest named author in history, and Artemisia, the sole female commander in the Graeco-Persian Wars.
By telling their stories, Dunn emphasizes that women have always been woven throughout history. Whether they were sitting at home on the loom or engaging in the complex world of power, women were much more interesting than prevailing histories would have us believe.
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Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall
Dr. Rebecca Hall is a historian and the granddaughter of slaves. Haunted by the legacy of slavery, she decided to dive deeper into its history. What she found was a cache of women warriors, forgotten and buried by the past.
Using archival research, Hall reconstructs the likely pasts of Adono and Alele, two women rebels who battled for freedom during the terrors of the Middle Passage. She also tells the stories of women who led slave revolts in colonial New York.
Beautifully illustrated in black and white, Wake represents the women warriors fighting against slavery while following Hall’s own story on how slavery continues to shape modern life.
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Brave Hearted: The Women of the American West by Katie Hickman
Brave Hearted relays the true stories of women living in the “Wild West.” Katie Hickman portrays the extreme resilience and courage needed to carve a life in this era.
From African American women in search of freedom to Native American women brutally displaced by white settlers to Chinese slave-brides working in laundries. From poker players to prostitutes to mothers and wives. Women of all backgrounds and occupations were forced to stand strong in the face of change in the West.
The tall tales of the West are not limited to cowboys and bandits. In Brave Hearted, Hickman unpacks the extraordinary accounts of the women who participated in the greatest mass migration in American history.
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Four Red Sweaters: Powerful True Stories of Women and the Holocaust by Lucy Adlington
In Four Red Sweaters, Lucy Adlington documents the stories of four young Jewish women and their experiences in the Holocaust. The women did not know each other, but they were all connected by a single garment: a simple red sweater.
Adlington is a clothes and textiles historian. She is renowned for weaving stories told through historical clothes. In Four Red Sweaters, Jock Heidenstein, Anita Lasker, Chana Zumerkorn, and Regina Feldman all have a red sweater that plays a major role in their lives.
The book captures the four women’s resilience, strength, and kindness, which helped them through the horrors of the Holocaust.
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The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich
The oral history The Unwomanly Face of War chronicles the experiences of Soviet Women during World War II. On the homefront, the front lines, and in occupied territories, over a million women contributed to the war effort.
A renowned historian and Nobel Prize winner, Svetlana Alexievich traveled across Europe to over a hundred towns to uncover these women’s stories. By bringing together dozens of voices, Alexievich shows that women did more than tending to domestic affairs. They were nurses and doctors, pilots, tank drivers, machine-gunners, and snipers.
Amid the most tolling war in history, women were fighting for their home. In this classic oral history, Alexievich addresses the unwritten side of war.
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The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture by Courtney Thorsson
The book The Sisterhood takes place in the late 70s and early 80s, at a time when influential writers like Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange, and several other Black women would gather together to talk about their work.
Calling themselves “The Sisterhood,” this group would advocate for Black women writers at trade publishers and magazines such as Random House, Ms., Essence, and academic departments.
Courtney Thorsson investigates the group’s everyday collaboration and the legacy they left behind. She details the popular success of Sisterhood members in the 1980s, the uneasy acceptance of Black feminism, and young writers continuing to build on the foundation laid by the group.
The book celebrates the achievements of the women and offers an enduring model for Black feminist collaboration.
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A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture by June Thomas
For as long as queer women have existed, they have created safe spaces in which they can be themselves. In A Place of Our Own, June Thomas dives into six iconic lesbian spaces that have emerged over the last sixty years.
From the lesbian bar to the softball field, the spaces have always been a necessity for queer women to embrace their identities. Thomas writes from her own experiences, along with archival research and interviews of iconic figures like Elaine Romagnoli, Susie Bright, and Jacqueline Woodson.
A Place of Our Own brings the history of the lesbian community to life. It shines a light on the business owners, entrepreneurs, activists, and dreamers who fought for queer liberation.
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Make One of These Books Your Next Read
Women have always held a space in history; yet that space has frequently been ignored. The listed books cover just a fraction of the countries, periods, and demographics that have been influenced by female figures, but they’re a good place to start.
In general, nonfiction can be hard to get into. However, these books contain elegant storytelling that keeps the reader engaged and interested. History is not just dates, numbers, and facts. History is stories. Take a swing and choose one for your next read!
