"America's Women" tells the story of more than four centuries of history. It features a stunning array of personalities, from the women peering ... read full description
reviews
Dec 17, 2009
Natalie
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An engrossing history composed of palatable anecdotes, blunt humor, and plain facts that will affirm, incense, and convulse by turns. Not scholarly, but well-informed and intimately written.
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Dec 17, 2009
Chelsea
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This book is fantastic. It's not an in depth study of women in America by any means - how can it be, when it does, in fact, cover every one of the 400 years mentioned in the title? - but Collins hits on all the important figures and movements, well known or obscure, and provides a wonderful collection of notes with lists of her favorite sources. I'm a little afraid of just how big my to-read list is going to get now.
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Jul 06, 2010
Dana
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Gail Collins’ America’s Women (400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines) reads like the women studies class I was never offered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It should be required reading for every US high school student today. Listen to some of this stuff:
The most famous runaway slave…was [Harriet Tubman:]…In 1849, when she was about thirty years old, she heard rumors that she was about to be sold and escaped. Making her way to Philadelphia, she cleaned houses u More...
The most famous runaway slave…was [Harriet Tubman:]…In 1849, when she was about thirty years old, she heard rumors that she was about to be sold and escaped. Making her way to Philadelphia, she cleaned houses u More...
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Jan 30, 2009
Clare
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While reading this I called myself a feminist for the first time in my life. My former discomfort with that label was embarrassing; I acknowledge the younger generations' ingratitude towards those who struggled for women's rights, but despite my gratitude and delight in the current freedoms, I couldn't embrace the concept of feminism without feeling like I was being tongue-in-cheek or somehow self-mocking.
I believe there are nature-bound differences, which can be studied and expose More...
I believe there are nature-bound differences, which can be studied and expose More...
Dec 11, 2008
Jennifer
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This book records the changes in American women's lives and the transformations in American society from the 1580s through the 2000s.
I appreciated that the author included women of all races, backgrounds, education levels, etc. She talks about the accomplished women of history but also highlights many who were obscure but still important.
This excerpt from Publisher's Weekly sums it up pretty well: The basis of the struggle of American women, postulates Collins, " More...
I appreciated that the author included women of all races, backgrounds, education levels, etc. She talks about the accomplished women of history but also highlights many who were obscure but still important.
This excerpt from Publisher's Weekly sums it up pretty well: The basis of the struggle of American women, postulates Collins, " More...
Aug 16, 2010
Katie
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This book should be required reading in American History courses. America's Women by Gail Collins is an extremely informative, well-edited and well-writen non-fiction work that looks like a textbook but reads like an epic adventure. And truly, what an adventure it was. In America's Women Collins writes what is more or less a social history of women in America, over the past 400 years-- from what little we know about Native American women, up to near-present time. She highlights not only lands
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Sep 10, 2009
Melissa
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This is a pretty good sized book (450 pages) but it was a really entertaining read. As the title suggests, it is an examination of American women from the first colonists through today.
The description makes it sound like a history book, or some dry text book you have to read for a class, but it SO isn't. Collins' has a very, read-able style and peppers the book with sly observations.
The thing I liked most about this book was that it wasn't just a dry count of notable or More...
The description makes it sound like a history book, or some dry text book you have to read for a class, but it SO isn't. Collins' has a very, read-able style and peppers the book with sly observations.
The thing I liked most about this book was that it wasn't just a dry count of notable or More...
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Jan 14, 2010
Christina
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From Eleanor Dare's voyage to the New World to Betty Friedan's march down Fifth Avenue, Collins uses individual women as a framework for her discussion of the four-hundred-year history of women in America. Starting with the lost colony of Roanoke Island and spanning several wars, the pioneering days, the Great Depression, the era of Rosie the Riveter, and the civil rights movement before ending with minimal commentary of the past three decades, the book explains how the lives of women were alte
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Mar 25, 2010
Emily
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This is a readable assemblage of anecdotes and perspectives about American women that balances somber evaluations of slavery and women's health with a generally sunny outlook on women's progress. The variety of experiences--frontierswomen, immigrants, suffragettes, enslaved women, and more--made for a quick and absorbing read.
I read this book and When Everything Changed out of their implicit order; this book deals with America's women from the very first settlers to the present. It' More...
I read this book and When Everything Changed out of their implicit order; this book deals with America's women from the very first settlers to the present. It' More...
Apr 24, 2007
Kirsten
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This is one of my all time favorite books ever. It shows how the role of women has evolved over time in America... and it is not a straight, consistent march to independence by any means. It is well-written, funny, and insightful. My surprise was how women have been darting back and forth between workplace and home over the past few generations.
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Aug 28, 2011
Abigail
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Gail Collins is my girl at the NYT (having overtaken Maureen Dowd as my favorite columnist) and I had high expectations of this book. At first I was a bit disappointed, as it seemed very rushed and shallow -- lots of interesting tid bits, but no depth or emerging themes -- and I had to take a break before I even got to the Civil War. As I got back into it, though, I appreciated the way in which Collins described the everyday lives of women throughout history -- looking at how fashions, housewor
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Sep 30, 2009
Lucy
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She mentions me on pages 243-244:
"Women were making rapid inroads into library work, where they were praised at the 1876 American Library Association meeting for being 'the best of listeners.' In 1891, the Library Journal published the first general discussion of women's place in library work. The author, Caroline Hewlins, estimated that women who worked as library assistants should expect to make $300 to $900 a year--about half of what men made--and be able to write steadily for si More...
"Women were making rapid inroads into library work, where they were praised at the 1876 American Library Association meeting for being 'the best of listeners.' In 1891, the Library Journal published the first general discussion of women's place in library work. The author, Caroline Hewlins, estimated that women who worked as library assistants should expect to make $300 to $900 a year--about half of what men made--and be able to write steadily for si More...
Dec 17, 2009
Heidi
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I LOVED this book. It was really interesting to see how things have changed for women over the years. It really made me appreciate and understand everything I've gained from the sacrifices and struggles of the women who came before me.
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Aug 24, 2010
Trish
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This is a good retrospective of women in America from the 1600's to 2000. It touches on all of the notable women of the past 400 years plus a couple of not so famous women. For those who read a lot of American historical fiction/non-fiction there is not a lot of new information to be learned. However, I think it does give one an overall perceptive of the rise of women's status throughout American history, and sometimes how women have had to fight years and years for equal rights and protection
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 01, 2008
Michelle
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FABULOUS book!! Wow. So much that I never knew before about the plight of women, their daily life and experiences. Covers the last 400 years and how society's view of women has evolved. Definitely a must-read.
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Mar 12, 2010
Ellen
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After reading this book from the library, I bought a copy for myself because there were too many places I wanted to mark either by underlining or dog-earing the pages (I know! I know!). It's a great resource for a feminist and a writer (of which I am both)and I plan to use it extensively for my feminist blog (www.femagination.com).
Before I started the book, I didn't think I would finish it (it's long), but I found that it was like eating popcorn: I just kept eating it until it was a More...
Before I started the book, I didn't think I would finish it (it's long), but I found that it was like eating popcorn: I just kept eating it until it was a More...
Sep 16, 2009
Judy
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I'm currently working on a presentation on Amazing American Women so I was intrigued when I saw this book. What a fabulous find. Gail Collins--I will read anything that you write. Collins deals with 400 years of women in America in an entertaining, informative way. She writes about the famous and the average women who helped shape the history of the United States. What a fascinating group of women. I learned so much about the social history of the U.S. and the opportunities and constraints
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Jun 18, 2011
Linda
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Lindsay recommended this book, and I am grateful. What a collection of stories, history, anecdotes, curiosities and tragedies. Some amazing tidbits about people I thought I had read enough about, and clearly hadn't - like the paragraph about Margaret Mitchell walking out of a history class at Smith because an African American woman had joined. I gathered more insight in this one book than the dozens I've read about women's history before. Covering the first European woman to come to these shores
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Dec 27, 2011
Becky
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I studied military history in school, I studied maritime history for fun, I served 8 years in the military, I rock climb, etc. I have never worn pink. So when I received this book as a Christmas present I thought “how odd.” A decidedly girl book for such a tomboy.
I am so embarrassed by my utter lack of appreciation for and knowledge of the women who came before me, that fought for my right to an education, to serve in the military, hell, to even wear pants! This book gets 5 stars fo More...
I am so embarrassed by my utter lack of appreciation for and knowledge of the women who came before me, that fought for my right to an education, to serve in the military, hell, to even wear pants! This book gets 5 stars fo More...
May 15, 2009
Andrew
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I started reading this in the middle, basically from the Progressive Era.
In the intro, Collins claims that "the history of American women is all about leaving the home... the yearning to create a home and the urge to get out of it." And, it is about "the fight for freedom, but its less a war against oppressive men than a struggle to straighten out the perpetually mixed messages about women's role that was accepted by almost everybody of both genders." A subtle, velvet- More...
In the intro, Collins claims that "the history of American women is all about leaving the home... the yearning to create a home and the urge to get out of it." And, it is about "the fight for freedom, but its less a war against oppressive men than a struggle to straighten out the perpetually mixed messages about women's role that was accepted by almost everybody of both genders." A subtle, velvet- More...
Mar 17, 2009
Michelle
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This book is not something that I normally read. I usually prefer fiction, but I love History, and this book is full of it. I read a review of this a while back and thought that it looked really interesting.
The book teaches about the history of women. From the very first recorded woman to be born in America (Virginia Dare), to present day. It tells of how women have evolved in labor, fashion, to their roll in the home. Their triumphs, and failures. There is a lot to learn from this b More...
The book teaches about the history of women. From the very first recorded woman to be born in America (Virginia Dare), to present day. It tells of how women have evolved in labor, fashion, to their roll in the home. Their triumphs, and failures. There is a lot to learn from this b More...
Jul 04, 2008
Apple
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How amusing that I finish this fabulous book on Independence Day.
As a woman trying to dig deeper into the great history of those who have labored before me, I had a hard time finding a concise and readable account in one location before this book. Collins has laid out the foundations of where women stand today in such an engaging manner that I could hardly stand to put the book down when I had to. I found the incredible amount of detail in referencing shocking; the last hundred or so More...
As a woman trying to dig deeper into the great history of those who have labored before me, I had a hard time finding a concise and readable account in one location before this book. Collins has laid out the foundations of where women stand today in such an engaging manner that I could hardly stand to put the book down when I had to. I found the incredible amount of detail in referencing shocking; the last hundred or so More...
Aug 10, 2008
Karen
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This is an incredibly well-researched and thorough history of the role of women in American history.
I especially liked the story the author tells of Marie Prisland, a Slovenian immigrant arriving at Ellis Island. The author writes:
"She and about 100 countrymen and women were waiting to be processed when someone asked a guard for a drink of water. When he returned with a pail, the men stepped forward, but the guard pushed them back, insisting 'Ladies first.' When More...
I especially liked the story the author tells of Marie Prisland, a Slovenian immigrant arriving at Ellis Island. The author writes:
"She and about 100 countrymen and women were waiting to be processed when someone asked a guard for a drink of water. When he returned with a pail, the men stepped forward, but the guard pushed them back, insisting 'Ladies first.' When More...
Mar 11, 2008
Lisa
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This book started out with a bang with the story of Virginia Dare (the first colonial baby born in America) and her mother. I really like the groupings by time period of lots of short stories-- 400 years worth-- about all kinds of American women. I am counting this as one of the 6 biographies I will read this year, too. ;)
***
I am very close to finishing this. It wasn't a quick read, but it's very good and so informative and interesting. I will update again later when I'm done. More...
***
I am very close to finishing this. It wasn't a quick read, but it's very good and so informative and interesting. I will update again later when I'm done. More...
Nov 05, 2009
(Not very) Funny Story! I told John I was in the mood to read something about feminism. Thus, he kindly bought me this book, which is NOT about feminism at all. (I should rephrase; This book follows U.S. history chronologically starting circa the Mayflower, and I haven't reached the point at which "Feminism" exists as something that can be objectively chronicled. Women Doing Stuff, Suffrage, sure. But not Feminsim... yet.) More accurately, this book is not written from a feminist
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Feb 27, 2008
Corrielle
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This is one of those books that I picked up because I felt that my knowledge of the subject was woefully lacking. As it attempts to cover everything from the first colonists that came over to the New World right up through the 1970's and 80's, it was, understandably, not an overly in-depth read. However, as a broad overview, it was fascinating.
One of the things that I enjoyed most were all of the primary source quotations by and about women that are sprinkled liberally throughout t More...
One of the things that I enjoyed most were all of the primary source quotations by and about women that are sprinkled liberally throughout t More...
Dec 21, 2007
Jessica
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This book includes so many well-kept and sometimes heartwrenching secrets about what American women have been through since the first woman who stepped foot on North American soil. To read it made me appreciate the experiences our mothers and grandmothers and the women before them have had AND how it impacts the fabric of our nation and our world. I also thought the author made a VERY GOOD argument as to why and when women have been allowed to step outside the more traditional roles of helpmate.
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Aug 01, 2010
Marcia
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I loved this book! It's an excellent, readable overview of the history of women in the United States. Because of the breadth of the subject, sometimes there wasn't enough information about certain women or subjects to satisfy my curiosity, but overall, this is a great and comprehensive book. There are numerous inspiring stories of famous and not-so-famous women. I recommend this for history fans and women everywhere, and it's a great place to start if you're interested in women's studies.
Apr 04, 2010
Tracy
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I really enjoyed this book - it was such a refreshing take on typical (not famous) American women though the ages. Right up until close to the present day when it seemed like the author was about to miss her deadline and sort of skipped to the end. If this book was a marathon race, its author would run a steady, great pace for 25 miles then would hop on the bus for the last 1.2 miles (instead of running), leaving the reader wondering what the hell had happened.
Jul 11, 2009
Courtney
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I discovered this book completely by accident. Thank goodness I did, because it subsequently became the text for a U.S. Women's History class I team teach. It is rare beyond belief to have a text that students actually WANT to read, but more than one student gave this book rave reviews. Some said they didn't want to stop with the assigned reading, or that it was so interesting they didn't feel like they were reading a textbook. Two BIG thumbs up to this one!
