Women and History: Voices of Early Modern England

Gordon DesBrisay is an assistant professor of history at the University
of Saskatchewan.

This wonderful book will appeal to general and academic audiences alike.
Eleven chapters present previously unpublished or rare texts capturing
the singular voices of an eclectic array of 17th- and 18th-century
women, from the forthright Duchess of Newcastle (“Death is far the
happier condition than marriage”) to the inquisitive servant Frances
Lamb (“Being an old decayed wall ... with my fingers I very easily
made a hole”). Some, like the Duchess, speak for themselves in
letters, diaries, books, and pamphlets. Other voices, like that of the
servant, are filtered through the recorded testimony of court documents.


The book consists of a collection of original texts, each with a brief,
accessible introduction by a historian. The introduction whets the
reader’s appetite by explaining why the historian found the text
interesting in the first place, setting it in a basic context, raising
issues, and posing questions. This format has many advantages.
Considerations of space and audience keep the academics’ contributions
short and sweet. In return for their brevity, the historians are able to
present a wide selection of their favorite texts that “dissolve
assumptions and surprise the reader.”

Blending secondary and primary materials, the book is ideal for
undergraduate teaching. Chapters in Part 1 draw from legal records, and
can be examined for the strengths and limitations of such evidence. Part
2 details strategies for coping with, confronting, and compromising with
the gender ideology of the day. Eight chapters concern women in and
around London; the lives and stories recorded here—of infanticide and
widowhood, debating societies, and cross-dressing criminals—are vivid
and compelling. No book is perfect, and this otherwise handsome and very
affordable production is marred by occasional typos, poorly produced
illustrations, and the lack of an index. But the bottom line is that
this is a book not to be missed by anyone interested in women’s
history and women’s lives.