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5th out of 190 books
—
63 voters
The Warrior Queens
Antonia Fraser's Warrior Queens are those women who have both ruled and led in war. They include Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I, Isabella of Spain, the Rani of Jhansi, and the formidable Queen Jinga of Angola. With Boadicea as the definitive example, her female champions from other ages and civilisations make a fascinating and awesome assembly. Yet if Boadicea's apocryph...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
2002
by Phoenix Press
(first published 1989)
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Couldn't resist this one, what with all the gender & power issues swirling around Hillary Clinton's bid for President. Also must read anything given a thumbs-up by Margaret Atwood because she is an absolute literary goddess a mon avis... But in the end I felt that Fraser attempted to cover too much ground between the covers of this book. I would have appreciated reading about fewer subject but in greater depth. Also, as a non-Brit, I was not previously familiar with the story of Boadiccea an...more
WARRIOR QUEENS is okay, but Lady Antonia obviously likes the modern queens more than the ancient ones. She spends as much time on parades and pageantry in the 19th century, where "symbolic" warrior queens just bless the troops and appear in very becoming but only sort-of military poses, as she does on actual fighting women in the ancient world, like Boudica of England.
It's also noticeable that with Boudica Lady Antonia plays down the bloody war and butchery and plays up the Roman era that came...more
It's also noticeable that with Boudica Lady Antonia plays down the bloody war and butchery and plays up the Roman era that came...more
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This book explores the history, role, and images of several women in history who, while not all were sword-wielding battlefield warrior Amazons, came to positions of great influence and power, some by their great abilities and others by inheritance or association. This includes the popular British Boudica, Queen Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great (Russia), and lesser known ones (at least, outside their own cultural lineage) such as Mathilda of Tuscany, Rani of Jhansi (India), etc.
More interestingl...more
More interestingl...more
Simply could not get into this book. I loved Fraser's biography of Marie Antoinette, and the subject matter for Warrior Queens is an instant hook for me. But, as my mother said when she tried to read it, this book reads like a textbook. Such a shame.
Antonia Fraser brings to light lesser known women who've ruled and cleverly ties their story-lines together while trying to tease out the common threads that literally bind them in terms of their ability to rule. Here is an excellent quote from one of the chapters showing how things haven't changed for the better in literally over 600 years: "In 1400 Leonardo Bruno instructed Battista Malatesta that, 'If a woman throws her arms around whilst speaking, or if she increases the volume of her speech...more
I really wanted to like this book - such an interesting subject matter! However, the wandering, redundant, and overall lumbering prose made it a wallow for me to read. I learned interesting things about various warrior queens throughout history and how their stories as re-told in literature followed similar themes.
Also this book feels dated. I found it interesting to read how she tied Margaret Thatcher in with her theories in light of the recent talk of Thatcher's legacy in the news following h...more
Also this book feels dated. I found it interesting to read how she tied Margaret Thatcher in with her theories in light of the recent talk of Thatcher's legacy in the news following h...more
This is one of the most intelligent and thoughtful books I have read in a long while. Using Boudica (Boadicea) as her starting point, Antonia Fraser traces a loose chronology of "warrior queens" from Zenobia to Queen Isabella to Golda Meir and Indira Gandhi. The final chapter or two on Margaret Thatcher is particularly insightful. Along the way she discusses how sexuality, maternity, and religion have shaped the conversations surrounding these women for generations, as well as the Appendage Synd...more
This book has a lot of interesting information but I got annoyed with the author's pretty constant references to Boadicea (the first warrior queen discussed) in relation to the other warrior queens and the terminology the author used frequently in describing the warrior queens e.g. the Appendage Syndrome, the Voracity Syndrome, the Shame Syndrome, the Tomboy Syndrome. After a couple of these, I mentally said "OK, I get it already." This book was written in the 1980's so maybe that explains use o...more
I love her biographies but this book, which dealt with dozens of women, was just okay. Fraser really seemed to get bogged down in the historiography. She couldn't relate a simple anecdote without remarking on the various interpretations and sources. It was actually confusing at times. Also, the book spent the least amount of time on the women I was most interested in. Would have preferred a tighter time period, and less about whose correspondence an account of a particular tale came from.
Really enjoyed reading about Warrior Queens - Boudica, Elizabeth I, Isabella of Spain, Catherine the Great, etc. It got a little wearing after a while to realise that most of these women had to play some kind of game or face some kind of criticism, but I suppose that has always been the way of the world, and the fact that they achieved what they did in spite of all that is kind of amazing.
Perhaps I skim-read this a little. I didn't really take much away with me from it.
Perhaps I skim-read this a little. I didn't really take much away with me from it.
Fraser is a reliably good writer. I did feel a pang every time she used the word "syndrome" for there seem to be any number of them in her estimation. Nonetheless, it was an accurate concise writing. Was disappointed that Catherine the Great was mostly mentioned only in passing- but plenty has been written about her I guess. This book is commended for anyone with an interest in history.
I enjoyed the parts that were pertinent to the book's premise, but sometimes Fraser was just reaching for things to write about (especially in the Celts chapter). Since the Celts were a non-literate society, Fraser fell back on describing the shapes of their houses and various other things unearthed in archeological digs. That would be fascinating in a book strictly about Celtic society, but was inappropriate for this book.
This was a very dense book which would be good for the scholar and not so much for general audience. Her overall theme is based on an ancient British queen named Boudica, which is unexpected when one reads the title of the book. She digresses a bit in each chapter but does seem to wind the story back to the character she's supposed to be talking about. In general it seems as though there is not a lot of historical fact for many of the characters and therefore, she (the warrior queen) is talked a...more
I wanted to read this particular book, because I gave a reading for a play based on this book...I read the part of Queen Boudicca's daughter and wanted to learn more. This is a very difficult read for me, its very indepth and Antonia mentions many warrior queens that its hard to keep them all in mind...I think I will set this one aside for awhile and Read her book about Queen Mary of Scots......
Loving historical biography, I enjoyed this despite some ponderous elements of style.It gives snapshots of women warriors from Boadicea through Elizabeth and Catherine the Great to Queeen Victoria and Margaret Thatcher. What I really found most interesting, however, were not the biographical elements so much as the portraits of how women won power and then maintained it.
I did like it, but not as much as their very lively biographies. It is still interesting to note how all of these Queens lived up to the legend of Boddicca. I saw the statue during my trip to England, it is now the front for tourist sales.
This book was just a melle of facts and also it likened warrior queens with Margaret Thatcher and also Catherine the Great. I have read books by this author and they have been fantastic but I have to say I was very disappointed in this book.
It was an okay book but I have to say the author's continous usage of "syndrome" did make one think that there was something wrong with the women! Also a little too much of "warrior" women in the European world and not so much with other countries. I guess in the 80s her research was limited but even so there must have been other women known then like Nurjahan during the Mughual period of India and I can't believe there was only one queen to cite in Africa! And I didn't have that much interest i...more
Very pro female. I enjoyed it very much. It is a nonfiction work describing nearly a dozen warring female leaders globally and throughout history. I checked it out of the ship's library and read it while touring Alaska.
I really enjoyed this book. The beginning was terribly slow for me, but once it picked up I couldn't put it down. I think I was thrown off in the beginning because she kept saying that this book was a study of Warrior Queens. The first 3 chapters read like a text book to me. Boring! But once the book started flowing, and each chapter was a different Warrior Queen, I really enjoyed it. It also gave me lots of women to try to find books on and maybe learn even more about these remarkable Warrior Q...more
This was an interesting book but not enough detail for me. I wanted more information on each woman, but at least it gives an overview of several women from history.
This is a good general history of women warrior queens. My only complaint is really Fraser should have clarified her archetypes in the beginning so when she referenced them within the text, it would have been clear.
Very fascinating book that makes me want to read more about the queens she mentions.
Jan 20, 2009
Lynne
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
slambangcoolnonfic,
the-ancients
My note from 1993: "The 'Storm of the Century' is raging outside and I just finished..."
Fraser explores the myths that surround women who lead (warrior women) and compares the elements of their mythos across cultures and time frames. She looks at several different syndromes of women in leadership roles. The book was more than a straight biography of a group of women and it was definitely better than a compendium of "Women Behaving Badly". But it was dry. I wouldn't go back to it again unless I had a term paper due. I'm not sure I would inflict this Fraser book on any students even...more
I really enjoyed reading this. It examined how the tropes and misogynistic criticisms that were applied to women in power in the past, even the very distant past, are still applied to women in power today. I'd always wanted to know more about Boudica and Fraser used her as a model to compare the other Warrior Queens to, mostly to compare how they were perceived and described, and the situations in which they came to power. She also made sure to note how Boudica herself was perceived, or forgotte...more
A look at some brave women in history.
Women warriors from Boadicea to Margaret Thatcher. Entertainingly written hiistory of various female rulers in various countries. Boadicea is used to draw feminist themes regarding the difficulty of acting militarily in a feminine way. Well worth the read.
I do like Lady Toni.
I do like Lady Toni.
ON MY WISH LIST
Fascinating topic, lots of interesting facts. A bit repetitive in places, but otherwise good. 3.5/5
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Lady Antonia Fraser (Pinter), CBE, is a British author of history and novels, best known as Antonia Fraser for writing biographies and detective fiction, and the second wife of Harold Pinter, the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature.
Series:
* Jemima Shore
More about Antonia Fraser...
Series:
* Jemima Shore
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