Clever and courageous: Strong women in world history

Here, readers encounter strong women who came to power or took it for themselves: warrior women and queens, empresses and leaders, women who gathered armies, went to war, ruled nations and empires, and took the fate of their countries into their own hands and changed it. For a long time, the female gender played no role in history, as it was the story of men. However, war and power are by no means exclusively a male domain, as this book demonstrates. Caroline Vongries entertainingly and knowledgeably recounts the diverse paths to power and the lasting impact these women had as rulers and conquerors. The author introduces us to some of the most interesting women in world history through 14 life portraits, such as Cleopatra, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Maria Theresa of Austria. Some of these women, like Liliuokalani, Hatshepsut, or Zenobia, are barely mentioned in history books and unjustly lead a shadowy existence in the collective memory of humanity. Remembering them is also an achievement of this book.