Rather ironic, really, that the editor of this fine book is a man ~ unless "John Miller" is the nom de guerre of some radical female. Still, editing the book can't have been very hard; Miller had some excellent writers to work with. The selection of the legends is somewhat more questionable. Of the fifty, less then twenty are neither from nor intimately associated with the United States; in the effort to remind people of the ability of the other gender to produce legends, the publishers have largely neglected the largest portion of that gender. And as if that restriction is not enough, the editor has not included anyone for whom a photograph is not available, thus denying any woman from the first 95% of history the opportunity to be a legend. Funnily enough, these censures aside, i really enjoyed this book. Quite unlike the usual "feminist book" (i hate the quotes, but you have to admit they belong there), this is neither strident not shrill, nor even obnoxious. It is beautifully written, nicely put together, with superb selection of wonderful photographs of handsome people. Can't ask for much more than that, eh?

Legends aptly pairs essays with black and white photos to examine the lives of women who have changed the world - as presented by great women writers such as Meg Cohen, Anne Hollander, Patricia McLaughlan and others. Enjoy an inviting collection of contemporary biographical sketches which reveals these women's many contributions to modern society.

I got this for my mum once and it is so good.A different author writes about each of the different famous women in the book in only praising tones and it is really great to look through.Each page is a seperate female,author,article and photograph. Some of the sheilas written about are:Marilyn,Audrey Hepburn(as the cover shows you),Twiggy,Anne Frank and lets not forget Mother Theresa.Or Princess Diana.Madonna does not make it into this book,thank the lord,and thankfully neither do big modern-day stars such as Britney Spaniels..I mean Spears.All-in-all as they say!,a very good book!