Women Warriors

Praise

“Toler blows past all expectations with this thoroughly delightful, personable, and crucially important history of women warriors.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review

“Toler seeks out courageous women of history who ‘have been pushed into the shadows, hidden in the footnotes, or half-erased . . . . A short book admirable for wide research.’”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Entertaining and colorful.”
—Publishers Weekly

“This entertaining and informative history of women warriors briskly covers huge swathes of time and place, arguing for the significance of a phenomenon as old as warfare itself.”
—Julia Kastner (librarian), Shelf Awareness

“Lucid and lively, Pamela Toler’s delightfully complex history of women’s presence on the battlefield debunks the myth that women have not been and therefore cannot be warriors. It is a welcome contribution to the growing body of work that seeks to bring women out of the shadows of history, in this case the particularly male world of military history.”
—Anne Boyd Rioux, author of Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy

“Pamela Toler’s exhilarating accounts of so many women who went to war, around the world, from antiquity to the present, and for so many different reasons, finally puts to rest the tired old arguments that only men are fit for combat.”
—Adrienne Mayor, author of The Amazons

“Pamela Toler’s writing never fails to delight me. In Women Warriors, she is like that best friend who is just way smarter than you, whose witty and engaging explanations help you see the past in a brand-new light. Toler takes you on a whirlwind tour through history and around the world, sharing stories about the hidden history of women who have led in military battle, elucidating the reasons why women’s long history in combat has often been hidden. Toler is a first-rate scholar who truly knows her stuff, and yet she imparts her wisdom with a light and engaging touch.”
—Elizabeth Letts, author of the New York Times bestseller The Perfect Horse

“In Women Warriors: An Unexpected History, self-described ‘academic renegade’ Pamela D. Toler has crafted a smart and highly entertaining chronicle of female fighters. Working across centuries and continents, Toler introduces readers to a host of colorful, courageous women who proved themselves as formidable foes on the battlefield, outwitting and overpowering their male adversaries along the way. From Boudica, who led a rebellion against the Roman Empire, to Maria Bochkareva, who commanded Russia’s first all-female battalion during World War II, we meet countless forgotten sister soldiers who acted with valor and verve. Toler may call this history unexpected, but readers will consider it a necessary and most welcome addition to the current literature about women and war.”
—Paige Bowers, author of The General’s Niece