Battle Cries and Lullabies: Women in War from Prehistory to the Present

by Linda Grant De Pauw

In this groundbreaking work, which covers thousands of years and spans the globe, Linda Grant De Pauw depicts women as victims and as warriors; as nurses, spies, sex workers, and wives and mothers of soldiers; as warrior queens leading armies into battle; and as baggage carriers marching in the rear. Beginning with the earliest archaeological evidence of warfare and ending with the dozens of wars in progress today, Battle Cries and Lullabies demonstrates that warfare has always and everywhere involved women. Following an introductory chapter on the questions raised about women’s participation in warfare, the book presents a documented, chronological survey linked to familiar models of military history. De Pauw provides historical context for current public policy debates over the role of women in the military. "Whether one applauds or deplores their presence and their actions, women have always been part of war. To ignore this fact grossly distorts our understanding of human history."

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History, War, Womens, Womens Studies

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

LINDA GRANT DE PAUW is President of the Minerva Center (an institution dedicated to studies of women in the military) and Professor Emeritus of History at George Washington University.

Reviews

[Jaclynn (JackieReadsAlot) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I wasted time by reading this book. In the opening she discusses the definition of "woman" as anyone who identifies as one. Obviously that should have been a warning, as she does indeed waste space in the book discusses men who performed femininity. She also, in the same opening, discussed ancient burial sites of women warriors. How did she know they were women? Oh right, biology. S So much cognitive dissonance just in the intro! Because of the wide scope of the survey covering several thousand years, the book can offer only a cursory glance at women’s role in some of the numerous conflicts in history. She mentions several women whom most historians agree did not exist at all in ancient times. The many gaps and paucity of recorded documentation of women’s role in warfare means De Pauw had to rely heavily on sketchy evidence, hearsay, second-hand reports, speculation, and anecdotes for much of the book. Documented evidence is more substantial beginning with the 19th Century.
Most offensive: Discussing the mass rape of "comfort women" by Japanese solders, then referring to them as "employees" on the next page. Discussing the rape of Vietnamese women by American solders...p.273 "Most American solders were not rapists, but they had the normal male interest in sex." Rape apologist? Justifying shanty-towns of Vietnamese prostitutes as young as 12 years old who "serviced" Americans? Disgusting.

[Tamara Agha-Jaffar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Battle Cries and Lullabies: Women in War from Prehistory to the Present by Linda Grant De Pauw is a sweeping overview of the multiple roles of women in war. De Pauw chronicles the various functions women performed in war: as spectators watching from the sidelines; as cheer leaders urging men into battle; as warrior queens leading the charge against the enemy; as laundresses; as nurses; as prostitutes; as camp followers; as baggage carriers; as spies; as wives; as mothers; and as soldiers sometimes disguised as men whose real identity was not revealed until they were wounded or their bodies were strewn on the battlefield.

A few recurring themes emerge from this survey. The first is that women are as capable as men of engaging in brutality, torture, bodily dismemberment, etc. on the battle field as are men. The second theme is that women are eager to pick up arms when it is a case of having to defend their homes and families. When the battle is about conquering land or colonizing a people, women are more likely to participate as nurses near the front lines than as battle-hardened warriors.

As De Pauw sketches women’s participation in war from one conflict to another, she includes inspiring stories of females who were brilliant war strategists, leaders, and many others who showed true bravery, heroism, courage, and compassion in the bloody carnage of the battlefield.

Because of the wide scope of the survey covering several thousand years, the book can offer only a cursory glance at women’s role in some of the numerous conflicts in history. The many gaps and paucity of recorded documentation of women’s role in warfare means De Pauw had to rely heavily on sketchy evidence, hearsay, second-hand reports, speculation, and anecdotes for much of the book. Documented evidence is more substantial beginning with the 19th Century. The 50 pages of footnotes and nearly 30 pages of bibliography make available sources for anyone interested in exploring the topic in greater depth.

As De Pauw concedes in her introduction, her work is a starting point, an invitation for further research. She is to be commended for attempting a broad survey of this nature, for highlighting gaps in our knowledge, and for her extensive compilation of available documentation on the subject.

Recommended.

[Lisa M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Linda Grant de Pauw argues that she writes the first book that documents a history of women in the military. Not only does she do this, she attempts to structure an argument about women in war. The premise of her argument is this: women have always participated in war. This has been historically covered up and/or forgotten because war defines masculinity. Thus, if women become involved in war, it threatens the masculinity of a culture. If Linda succeeded in writing either of these books, she would have made a great accomplishment. However, Linda did neither of these things. I am not sure why Linda claims she is “writing the first book of its kind.” Throughout the book, Linda cites other books that do what she is attempting to do with her work. This lack of knowledge prevades her work. For someone who claims to have a specialty in women, Linda has a lack of knowledge in feminism, rape, lesbianism, and trans issues. Her knowledge/opinions of these topics is so outdated it is offensive. Her treatment of rape is particularly offensive; she discusses survivors of rape as “victims” and “women who have lost their purity.” Outside of these issues, Linda does undertake a lot wit hthis book. Although she covers wars across human history and in many parts of the world, she does neglect Asian countries. I wanted to know more about China and Japan. As far as the actual histories go, Linda will make theoretical conclusions that support her arguments in one section. In the next section, she will say something that overtly contrasts what was said previously. However, I found the content very interesting. I learned about war and the roles women have played in war. I found some of the stories of female war heros inspiring. However, this expansive book was also depressing. Obviously stories of war and war crimes is depressing in and of itself. But the fact that there have been so many people in the world, and so many have died in the same way- only for their cause to be lost, let alone their country and people- was extremely depressing. Why do I live my life? the world is over populated. I don’t believe in religion or some spiritual purpose. Apparently people fight for causes and die all the time. Not only that, but the world is a brutal place. I don’t really know what to turn for for a purpose to live, any longer. This probably sounds more suicidal then it is- more existential, then anything. But, back to the quality of the book. Linda has trouble balencing the history of women in war with her argument. The book is basically an overlook of history of women in war, with a rare mention of her argument. While I think there is validity in her argument, she was such a poor writer that she could not make it well. Despite the downfalls of her writing I was grateful for this book because it does provide a basic overview of war and women’s roles in it. t

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a bookstore's going-out-of-business sale because it was cheap and it sounded interesting. I was a little afraid that it would be fraught with political commentary and rhetoric, but I am happy to be mistaken. The approach is very methodical and historical, telling of heroines (and villains) on both sides of many conflicts during the history of the world. While sometimes the evidence is a little sketchy, she tells us what evidence there is, and copious footnotes allow one to research more if one is interested. I liked how she didn't just talk about the traditional heroine who dresses up as a man to go to the battlefront, but also the camp followers who carried lots of baggage and did many hard (but necessary) chores, spies, prostitutes, and other women involved in martial efforts. She doesn't tell us whether these women were heroines or victims or what -- the author gives us the facts and lets us decide.

I didn't really care for the last chapter very much -- it seemed like it wasn't really related to the whole theme of "women in war", but the rest of the book was very interesting. I learned a lot about history that I didn't know; despite history's reputation being memorization of dates and battles, I had little or no knowledge of military history outside the U.S. after 1600 or so. The book doesn't go into very much detail about women in non-English-speaking countries, but that's a little understandable since English-language documentation on these subjects is a little hard to come by.

The one constant I felt throughout the book is that when women have joined in the actual fighting, it is because they thought it was important. You don't see women disguised as men to enter the British army to go colonize other lands; but you do see this happening in defensive battles, the Civil war, the Revolutionary war, and many other conflicts throughout history.

I would recommend this book to those interested in military history and/or women's studies. There is a fair amount of discussion of prostitution that some may not enjoy; I didn't enjoy it either, but the author discussed it in a factual way, and it was clearly an issue of importance to the armies of the time, so it makes sense.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though one can consider it an overview of women who took part in war not just as victims. Many women were military leaders in their own right. More women than have been recognized have been in actual combat especially when they have to defend their homeland. Patriarchs have tried to keep much of the history of women in war (and actually in history) hidden if not obliterated yet their stories have been passed down and are being confirmed by archaeology finds. In later times we have eyewitness accounts through diaries and official records. Even those have a tendency to down play women's role as participants in conflict. Fortunately more people are making note of women in war.
Another book I recommend is "Even the Women Must Fight" by Phan Thanh Hao which is about North Vietnamese women in that conflict.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers the roles of women in wartime. Women have been nurses, cooks, doctors, spies, decoys, code breakers, sex workers, had roles in combat and roles as leaders. Women have supported boyfriends and husbands, saw sons off to war. Women have joined organizations to support military personnel and veterans. They have been employed in jobs at home while men were sent to war. They have sacrificed items and luxuries, grown victory gardens, and a host of other things. I thought this book was a great reminded of what all women do in roles of support to their countries and war efforts.