I first read about this book in the forward to another book by Christine De Pisan (Treasure of the City of Ladies.) I became wild to own several of her writings, and am glad to own this one. I find it interesting reading even though I am not really a scholar of military history, at least not in the usual sense.

As a member of an historical re-creation society I take particular enjoyment in this book, as I have stood on the sidelines of our "battles" and know a very little about field tactics from watching. As the organizer of our medieval version of the USO Canteen, I really, REALLY liked the parts about how to feed an army before battle!

This book from 1410 consists of two main parts. The first part deals with military strategy (mostly based on Vegetius), and the second (mostly based on Bonnet's tree of battles) with laws of war, and the concept of just war. I found this work much more enjoyable than Macchiavelli's Art of War, for one thing Christine doesn't dwell so much on the supposed superiority of the Romans in all things, and she adds some interesting original material, such as detailed lists of fortification and siege equipment (up to sizes and amounts of timber, nails, etc.). This book is unique, being the only military classic written by a female author. The translation to english is very readable.

The first Medieval literature I read was The Art of Courtly Love. The second book was Christine's The Book of the Duke of True Lovers. She subverts all the tenets given for courtly love to show its faults. She is requested to write the story of the Duke and she uses this opportunity to warn women and let them know the are better things to do than become involved in courtly love. Not a major milestone today, but for a period in time when few people were educated (and unheard of for women) Christine brilliantly uses her postion to her advantage!

Medieval French writer Christine de Pizan and her work deserve to be better known. THis book is a translation of one of her great works, and shows clearly medieval women were far from being the simpering ninnies or oppressed victims all too many people seem to think they were. With an excellent introduction, written by a scholar, this is a very good addition to any library on the Middle Ages.

i read this book at a point when i wanted to graduate with honors at my university and had to read like 20 or so "great" books. i had never heard of this book, but it was on the list, so i picked it up and began reading it. i was honestly surprised by the beginning of the book, which started well. but then, honestly, i began to snicker a bit as i kept reading it. a valiant and honorable effort by Ms. depizan to bring women's rights to the discussion in a time when women were treated quite inhumane.

LA CITE DES DAMES was one of the first medieval books I have read (but I am by no means an expert in the area... yet!), and I recommend it to not only those interested in this period, but also for those interested in what we would call "women's studies," historiography, or similar endeavors.

It is filled with many interesting stories from ancient times to Christine's own time, which also makes the book a pretty entertaining (and sometimes even humorous) account of the historic figures it discusses. Christine herself was an amazing person, so if you buy it, be sure not to skip the introduction - especially if you are unfamiliar with medieval writings: Some of the ideas presented (and how they are presented) are much different than how we would think in modern times, so it is important to familiarize yourself with things like massive over-proving (which may end up being tedious to the unsuspecting reader), Christine's view on marriage, and literary conventions that would perhaps seem very silly to us now, but worked well 600 years ago. Basically, when reading this book, if you keep in mind the context in which it was written, you should be able to appreciate it and like it just as I have.

(by the way -- the book I read was not the Penguin edition, but rather the 1998 English translation by Earl Richards, ISBN 0892552301, so unless you're planning on extensive criticism, you should be okay with this version).

Christine falls asleep while contemplating why women in her society get such a bad rap, and has a long dream about exemplary women and their characteristics.

Did you ever wonder why we just accept that women in the Middle Ages were considered demons in disguise? Christine tells us all about what she thinks of that concept and of those who insist on spreading such maliciousness, all in an engaging story full of examples of brave, courageous, intelligent, pious, beautiful, generous women. The book was written to dispel some of the nastier slanders then current about women, but it's still good reading today.

I confess that during the part about martyrs I wandered off a bit (it is some gruesome stuff in places), but as a period source, it's definitely one every history maven ought to have. Christine is intelligent, observant, and witty; her writing fairly sparkles with indignation over the treatment of women and her sardonic amusement at those men spreading those lies. While hyper-Catholic and in places highly allegorical (and in many places its version of "history" is highly questionable, of course), it is an essential look at a time period where women didn't often make their views known in written form.

This book is distinct from "The Book of the Treasure of the City of Ladies".

Rosalind Brown-Grant is one of the leading authorities on Christine de Pizan, and this is evident in this book. Unfortunately, the book is written for other authorities on Christine de Pizan. Most of the main points that Brown-Grant attempts to make are illustrated in the words of Christine...in the original French. If you speak modern French you'll probably be able to get by, but if not it's pretty inpossible to use this book as a viable source. Brown-Grant did a good job translating The Book of the City of Ladies, why couldn't she do the same for this book?

Here's what Cambridge Univ. Press has to say about this book: "Christine de Pizan's Livre de la Cité des Dames (1405) is justly renowned for its full-scale assault on the misogynist stereotypes which dominated the culture of the Middle Ages. Rosalind Brown-Grant locates the Cité in the context of Christine's defence of women as it developed over a number of years and through a range of different texts. Arguing that Christine tailored her critique of misogyny according to the genre in which she was writing and the audience she was addressing, this study shows that Christine's case for women nonetheless had an underlying unity in its insistence on the moral, if not the social equality of the sexes. Whilst Christine may not have been a radical in modern feminist terms, she was able to draw upon the cultural resources of her day in order to construct an intellectual authority for herself that challenged the prevailing orthodoxy of the day."

Christine di Pizan is widely acclaimed as the first woman feminist in the Western World. She began her defense of women in her "Epistres du debat sur le Roman de la Rose" and continued it in "Livre de la Cit des Dames". An excellent study of the feminist implications of Christine di Pizan's work in the context of medieval European scholarship.

This is an excellent collection of excerpts from the writings of the 15th century author Christine de Pizan. Pizan, a trasplanted Italian in France, churned out a massive body of work on every type of conceivable subject; politics, love, history, philosophy, panegyric as well as love ballads. Pizan was the first professional female writer, no mean feat in a male dominated world.

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with her writings. She has a sharp intellect that shines throughout her works. She also uses her own personal experiences in her writings (Christine was widowed at the age of 25 and had to turn to writing to support herself and her family). Christine also studied the classics profusely, which she puts to heavy use in her stories. The best excerpt was probably from her best known work, The City of Ladies, in which Christine symbolically builds a city to house all of the virtuous women from history. The reason is to showcase women who have contributed much to society and history, as well as to refute what Christine perceived as the tendency in male literature to demonize women. This excerpt has certainly made me want to read this work. It's done in such a clever way that the reader can't help but smile as Christine scores points against misogynistic egomaniacs who attack women for their own personal gain.

The second part of the book consists of several scholarly criticisms that for the most part aren't worth much, which is why I gave the book three stars. The best criticism was written by Sheila Delany, who wrote that while Christine defended women against the attacks of men, she in no way was what we would call a feminist. Christine upheld the power structure of 15th century France, which not only was ruled by men to the exclusion of women, but also was heavily stacked against the common man.

An excellent book that I would recommend to anyone interested in literature or history. Again, the three stars I gave this book in no way reflect on Christine de Pizan or her works.

This book was exellent! I as student was researching Christine de Pizan for a school report. I soon learned she was the most intresting woman. She was a feminest, humanist writer, painter and poet. She had stron g morals and was also out going. I enjoyed this book because it was about the femenist side of her. It shved the male shovanistic pigs away! anyway i really loved this book and hey i'm only 13! so for everbody over 13 this would be a great book to buy!

Although the text has many insightful articles in it, roughly one-third of the text is in French. So, unless you're going for your doctorate or you are VERY fluent in French (there are some difficult concepts conveyed here) the text will only be two-thirds helpful.