Leslie Feinberg is a radical trans in men's clothing. This book is written with the typical radical political slant. Her statements and "facts" are called into question by her bias. Would you believe a book about Hitler's Germany written by a right wing fascist? In a similar fashion one has to take Feinberg's book with many grains of salt. Her objective is to justify any and all types of transsexual, transgender BEHAVIOR. Yes, it's a BEHAVIOR. No one forces this type of BEHAVIOR on those that would obsess themselves with trying to become the opposite sex.
The theme of the book is that transsexuals have always fought, that they are fierce; they have an attitude of rebellion. We can still see that today with the Gay Pride parades that shove their BEHAVIOR in your face! Unfortunately, you can't have it both ways. When you have an attitude and you shove it in someone's face many times they shove back. Stop trying to justify your BEHAVIOR by desperately searching through history and rewriting stories like Joan of Arc to justify your BEHAVIOR.

Those interested in transgenderism have long been teased by all-too-brief descriptions of its existence in times past. If mentioned at all in previous works, transgendered history has been soft-pedaled into vague meanderings on Native American "two-spirits".

Leslie Feinberg not only provides comprehensive documentation of the roles of transgendered people in ancient societies, but also interprets these traditions and their decline by deconstructing our current views of gender as the result of patriarchy. Feinberg also weaves into the interpretation elements of socialist theory and class oppression.

These theoretical passages are interspersed with personal vignettes from the Feinberg's life which flesh out the explanation. Even if one doesn't fully buy into Feinberg's views, the book takes you on a fabulous journey and forces you to re-examine your beliefs about gender.

Although not scholarly,the book serves the important purpose of contributing one volume that consolidates documentation of many of the instances of transgenderism that previously were splintered throughout the literature.

The book is a quick read, which is both refreshing and disappointing. Perhaps in the near future Feinberg or others will branch off this pioneering work and continue to re-discover the robbed tradition of transgenderism throughout the world.

Of course this book is personal. Of course it is passionate. It is an important attempt by a recognized trans author and amateur historian to catalyze a larger project of tracing authentic patterns of gender expression that don't conform to the binary that has been forced upon society since the rise of class divisions (i.e., since the collapse of "primitive" or "tribal" collectivism). And the book thereby contributes to efforts to demystify the notion that "two sexes" are a scientific fact and historical truth.

Hopefully others will pick up where Feinberg leaves off and apply other methodologies to uncover what has really been going on throughout human history where it comes to gender.

What the book lacks in traditional academic rigor it more than makes up for with its first-person self-consciousness, originality and plausibility in the interpretation of historical data. It is richly illustrated, literate, contemporary and very relevant to today's discourse.