This is one of the most reliable sources on Hearst Castle! Instead of mostly text describing the house, there are pictures, which displays much more than words. It also is affordable, for anyone whowants a resource without high, coffeetable book prices.

This is definately a coffee table or bathroom book... or just one to carry around in your purse for a quick page or two. Each woman has only a page or two devoted to her, so you can quickly get in a short giggle between other goings on!

I highly recommend this book and any other by Vicki Leon, if you can find them!

If you like short stories about inspirational women of the past, this book is for you. This book highlights the lives of many women of the past in short stories of their lives. I should have realized that many women of the past have had extraordinary lives. This book is perfect to read along when you only have a short amount of time to read as the passages are only a couple of pages per women. Very inspirational.

Great book to have on your bedside table to pick up and read one or several short chapters at a time. It also makes a great gift. I keep ordering more copies as I remember other woman who have birthdays coming! It's not only informative, but also entertaining and inspiring to learn what women were able to accomplish in the past...gives one a nudge to perhaps dare to be different today!

Ms. Leon once again gives us an irreverent look at our ancestresses, this time in the New World, the Americas and Australia. The book is a series of very short stories about women who made a difference or were different in their time. I enjoyed all of the stories, but there were some standouts; the young girls who were successful at the ride Paul Revere became famous for, th.e Widow Cliquot and her champagne, the Pitcairn Island women(2 stories)and so many others. I own every book in this series and recommend it highly

This book is, along with the rest in the series, very funny and informative. Tells about many women considered outrageous by Rennaissance terms. Complete with hilarious black and white illustrations for younger readers.

Leon's books make terrific gifts...I've sent them to friends for birthdays, just for fun and get well gifts. The author's research and way with words never ceases to amaze me! And what a sense of history.... she makes you love the past and spirit of those indominable and sometimes wicked women!

This wonderful book is loaded with stories about women who did their own thing, about ladies who were anything but conventional, about women of long ago who can serve as role models for women today. As with all of Leon's Uppity books, this one is another winner! I loved it. History teachers ought to use this book, as the writing is sassy and never dull or dry.

Not too bad as far as coffee table books go. All the articles are short - a few hundred words - and there are plenty of B/W pictures to break the text up. This is a book I'd be happy my teenage daughter reading to get her interested in thinking outside the 'norm' of historical research but she wouldn't learn much from it (this book).

A nice, light, amusing read that isn't going to offend anyone and might just entertain or inspire along the way.

Uppity Women of the Renaissance by Vicki Leon is a pleasure to read and it's a book you'll keep going back to. Leon knows how to make history fun and she has a knack for finding the most interesting characters from the past, and then bringing them back to life.
If you've never read one of Vicki Leon's books, you're in for a real treat. Give one as a present to a reluctant reader, give one to yourself!
Ms Leon is not just an excellent writer, but is also a fine historian. She has made it her mission to discover long lost women with spunk and brains, and to bring them to the public's eye. I'm a big fan of her's and have every book she's written. I especially like to give them as gifts since they are that rare combination of spirit, fun, frolic, sassiness, seriousness, and real history. Uppity Women of the Renaissance is one of Ms. Leon's very best. Highly recommended.

I recently purchased this and Ms Leon's Uppity Women of the Middle Ages. These books are a must. They are informative and fun and could have gone on for hundreds more pages without being boring. Being a published author I've read too many dull books for research. Ms Leon is the proverbial breath of fresh air!

This book is about women in the middle ages who were under twenty and had significant recognition in the outside world. It is appropriate for readers of all ages. Its content being educational and yet fun. Its subjects vary in greatness and culture, having everyone from infamous to famous characters who left written records. Their achievements have helped to modernize the role of women.

This is yet another fine history book by the fabulous author, Vicki Leon. I have all of her books and always look forward to her newest ones. This one will be loved by children and it is exactly the kind of book that kids like. Who says history can't be fun? With Leon, all of histry is a riot! I liked it a lot and so did my children.

So, when did Maya Angelou received the Nobel Prize for literature? pg.129

Enter into this fascinating world of women who are desperately in love with books. They are a diverse group of personalities who were at times ignored, banned and reviled by the public for their use of the written word.

Brenda Knight provides us with some intriguing and entertaining profiles of women in the literary scene. They are listed in seven cateogories which include prolific pens, those whose books were banned, women who wrote from a a different spiritual point of view and other interesting facts about women in the field of literature.

Did you know that women were responsible for writing the Bible under the "guidance" of Jerome? Are you aware of the prolific amount of prose penned by Barbara Cartland, Margaret Mead and Edith Wharton? These are just a few tid bits of information that will encourage you to read more.

I enjoyed this book and discovered quite a bit of information about women who love books that I didn't know. This book does suffer from one main fault and that is its mis-statements of facts or getting the facts wrong. For example, she says Maya Angelou received the Nobel Prize for literature which is false. She wrongly identifies Richard Wright as being a part of the Harlem Renaissance movement in her profile of Zora Neale Hurston. Margaret Mitchell did not endowe a medical chair for African-American students going to medical school. Under cover she provided funds for them to attend.

Such mis-statements of facts may make you gun shy of trusting the other "facts" given about women in the book world. Don't be. Do your own exploring and checking and see what you can find. Knight is just a catalyst. I am surprised that women who edit books are missing from this group but that's another book to write.

Portray after portray of women writers, from expected Sapho to not so expected Barbara Cartland & today's news J.K. Rowlings are presented in this fantastic book, nice to look at with its fantastic layout & nice to feel the weight of in the hand. The authors are revealed under imaginative headlines like "Ink in Their Veins", "Sisters in Crime" and "Women Whose Books Are Too Much Loved"...
You get thrilled and mused while reading about those female writers. Brenda Knight writes tremendously well - she has knowledge and she knows to share it with us in an entertaining way!
As a European Editor, publishing this book in my own language, I am very proud to present some female writers (like Anne Rice and Maya Angelou) for the first time to my countrymen.
This is a tremendous gift to buy to a friend who also love books too much (or to oneself!).

I received this book and its companion on Medieval women as gifts. One lives in the bathroom and one by my bed. I am deeply interested in history and was looking forward to learning about an often-overlooked segment of the population - the women, famous and not, who influenced and contributed in large and small ways to their times.

It's clear that Ms. Leon has done a lot of research, but her writing style is terribly irritating and ultimately gets in the way of the material. She could have written it in an informal conversational style that would have served the same purpose, that of making the material accessible and interesting, but she chose instead to use a dated, "cool" Daddy-O style that just doesn't suit the material or ring true to her voice. Hip jargon is cool only briefly, and people who try to be funny usually aren't; why did she find it necessary or appropriate to trash her research and insult the intelligence of her readers with her silliness? I appreciate her obviously extensive research and the fact that she included ordinary women as well as movers and shakers, because we really know very little about women in history, but then she undermined her own efforts with her ridiculous writing style. That's why I rate the book at 3 instead of 5 - the content is worth a 5 but it's hard to take seriously a work that its own author obviously didn't.

Ms. Leon is clearly a well-researched historian, and has endeavoured to provide useful information in easily digestible sound-bites for those who could otherwise be bored by history. Brava! I really enjoyed this book, and plan on getting the others in the series. People who never read history will be entertained by the short, informative, juicy little 1-page tidbits on each compelling woman. Ms. Leon presents a view of some of these women that is different for what I have seen elsewhere, and I would be interested in seeing how she arrived at some of her conclusions. Probably another story.

I enjoy the Uppity Women series by Vicki Leon greatly. I have read most of the volumes and have been lucky enough to purchase for myself a couple for my library. I will keep adding to the collection until I have every one. Some may find her style to be flip or fluffy. But, I think her writing is passionate and shows a deep love and affinity for women in history. If anyone who wrote the other reviews actually read the writing of women in history. In particular, travel literature by Isabelle Eberhardt, Flora Tristan, Isabelle Bird, Francis Trollope etc. You and they might see that women in history wrote about themselves in an exuberant, lively, fun and impassioned manner. Ms. Leon is only following in their brilliantly and unfortunately almost forgotten footprints. If you love women, literature, and history, please by the series and buckle up! It is a wild and wonderful ride through the world of women!

"You can't really be strong until you see a funny side to things." A message that more than a few of my fellow reviewers should take to heart. And one that Ms. Leon certainly has!

I will not spend any great time arguing over the historical accuracy of this book or with the crazed women studies scholars who are outraged by it. I will say, though, lighten up just a wee bit, please.

This is an informative and fun book. Like Ms. Leon's other "Uppity" books, it offers to any reader an overview of women in history that is often overlooked. Its sense of humour is what makes the topic matter more inviting and available to a greater number of people. The predominant crusty tomes of "herstory" that are sadly prevailing in this field will put people to sleep faster than Trotsky's "My Life"!

I have my advanced degrees in history and women's studies - and I understand the adage of a little knowledge can often be dangerous. But there is nothing in this delightful book that is remotely "dangerous". If anything, with a bit of luck, it will inspire more women - especially young women - to take a deeper look at the subject. Providing strong role models from history is far more productive than teaching young women to yell "victim"!

Ms. Leon's books are smart and sassy - and that is what makes them great! We need more of these sort of women - historically and contemporaneously - to demonstrate a path of empowerment for women.

Much credit should be given to Ms. Leon for attacking so many years of history with such vigor and vim! A good read for any human being - female or male!

As with her other work Uppity Women of Ancient Times, Vicki Leon has scored another well written work on women's history. I gave this volume fours stars, because in this volume as opposed to the one on ancient women, Leon did a bit too much subtle editorializing for my taste. Also the dates on some of here biographies seem somewhat off the mark. However in the balance it is a great work. A great read, and excellent to use for a laugh or two with friends. As a historical source it is art house, and professional historians, would rightly or wrongly most likely shy away from it. Regardless of this I still recommend the book highly.

Everyone has heard of the famous females Brunhilda and Joan of Arc as well as ladies like the Countess Bathory and Mary, Queen of Scots. However, there are scores of interesting women in history and author Vicki Leon proves this over and over in her Uppity Women book series.

After reading Uppity Women of Medieval Times, I became an immediate fan of Leon's work. She brings a fresh approach to history with her series and I highly recommend all of her Uppity Women books as both educational and entertaining reading. The books also make excellent gifts for the Uppity Women in your life!

I totally agree... this book is full of factual errors, including stating that Murphy Brown singlehandedly brought down Dan Quayle. The editor of this book should bone up on grammer, fact-checking, etc. I found it very distressing that many women, from Queen Isabella to Belle Starr were treated with a giddy adulation that did not include the whole woman. I am very much a feminist and have enjoyed the other books from Conari Press and thought all of their products would be as high quality.

This book is filled with inaccurate information, typos, and incorrect grammar. Not to be used as a reference. I could have written this book myself. The parts I didn't know, I could have simply made up, which is what the author appears to have done. Book also contains a small paragraph on Wonder Woman who is historically the most famous and continuously published superheroine of all time. Do your research. Note to author: double check your facts or don't even bother.

This book is an inspiration for any woman that thinks she can't do it. Every woman in this book proves that every woman can do whatever she wants - and do it well.