Posts by Pamela
From the Archives: From Confucius to Air Traffic Control
In 130 BCE, the Chinese emperor Han Wudi came up with a new idea for how to choose government bureaucrats. He established a civil service of Confucian scholars, known in English as mandarins, who earned their positions by passing a standardized examination. The system still favored those from privileged families who could afford to give…
Read More
Fighting the Roman Empire
Back many moons ago when I was writing the proposal for this book I’m writing,* one of the first women I wrote about was Boudica, the Celtic woman who led an uprising against the Romans and almost kicked them out of Britain in 60 BCE. One of key elements in her story, at least from…
Read More
Nurses in the Vietnam War: A Guest Post by Lynn Kanter
At the moment, the Vietnam War is on America’s collective minds once more, thanks to Ken Burns’ amazing documentary. Burns dealt briefly on the story of the women who served–just enough to make those of us who are interested in the roles of women in war want to know more. Luckily, I knew the right…
Read More