Femina

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Brought to you by Penguin.

Extraordinary women have held positions of power throughout history. But, aside from the select few, why do we not hear about them?

The middle ages are seen as a bloodthirsty time of Vikings, Saints and Kings: a patriarchal society that oppressed and excluded women. But by digging a little deeper into the truth, drawing on evidence from all disciplines, we can see that the 'dark' ages were anything but. BBC historian Janina Ramirez has uncovered countless influential women's names struck out of historical records, with the word FEMINA annotated beside them. Male gatekeepers of the past ordered books to be burnt, artworks to be destroyed, and new versions of myths, legends and historical documents to be produced, which has manipulated our view of history.

By weaving a vivid and evocative picture of the lives of the women who influenced their society, we discover not just why these remarkable individuals were removed from our collective memories, but also how many other misconceptions underpin our historical narratives, altering the course of history, upholding the oppressive masculine structures of their present, and affecting our contemporary view of the past.

© Janina Ramirez 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Critics Review

Revelatory... Ramirez shows again and again that dark age Europe was a far more various place than we like to believe
Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian
One of Femina's greatest strengths is that it is not just a collection of medieval heroines, although there are inspirational stories aplenty in its pages, but also a readable and wide-ranging account of the Middle Ages - with the women put back in - that forces us to look at familiar stories in new ways
The Sunday Times
It's about time these stories had a wider audience. They've been waiting long enough.
Spectator
Passionate, provocative and brilliant, this book is a firecracker somehow captured between two covers
Lucy Worsley, bestselling author of Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman
Beautifully written, wonderfully free-ranging and gloriously original, Femina makes us look into the mists of history in new, exciting and provocative ways. A joyous read
Peter Frankopan, bestselling author of The Silk Roads
Absolutely brilliant and highly recommended
Caitlin Moran, bestselling author of How To Be a Woman
Janina Ramirez is a born storyteller, and in Femina she is at the peak of her powers. This is bravura narrative history underpinned by passionate advocacy for the women whom medieval history has too often ignored or overlooked. Femina is essential reading for anyone who is interested in the Middle Ages and its place in the modern mind
Dan Jones, bestselling author of The Plantagenets and Powers and Thrones
The women of the Middle Ages, so often silent and inconspicuous in our histories, find voice, agency and justice in this brilliant book
Alice Roberts, bestselling author of Ancestors:A prehistory of Britain in seven burials
Femina is an important addition to our understanding of a period still - mistakenly - thought to have excluded women from positions of power and significance. Femina skillfully brings out from the shadows the lives of women who ruled, fought, traded, created, and inspired
Cat Jarman, bestselling author of River Kings: A New History of Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads
Spellbinding, passionate, gripping and magnificently fresh in tone, boldly wide in range, elegantly written, deeply researched, Femina is a ground-breaking history of the Middle Ages. It brings the world to life with women at its very heart, centre stage where they belong. What a delight.
Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem: The Biography

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