shin-kickers from history – Page 28 – History in the Margins

Tiny Bubbles…..

By Pamela | July 7, 2017 |

Right now I’m thinking about widows–not for personal reasons but in reference to The Book. I’ve been looking at the concept of the widow’s walk to power: think Corazon Aquino or Sirivamo Bandaraniake, who campaigned as the “weeping widow” to become the world’s first female prime minister in 1960 after the assassination of her husband.…

Shoot Like A Girl Is A Compliment

By Pamela | May 2, 2017 |

As anyone who’s been hanging out here in the Margins knows, I’m working on a global history of women warriors. I’m looking at examples from across the globe, from the ancient world through the twentieth century. Looking at their stories in the context of women in the modern American military–or maybe looking at women in…

Isabella of Castile: Europe’s First Great Queen

By Pamela | April 21, 2017 |

A while back I reviewed Sarah Gristwood’s Game of Queens, a wonderful account of the powerful women who ruled (directly or indirectly) in sixteenth century Europe. Giles Tremlett’s masterful biography of Isabella of Castile is in some ways the prequel to Gristwood’s account. Tremlett sums up the theme of his book in its sub-title: Europe’s…