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Title: The Warrior Queens: The Legends and the Lives of the Women Who Have Led Their Nations in War
ISBN: 0679728163
Author:
Antonia Fraser
Publicate Date: 1990-04-14
Publish: 1990-04-14
List Price: $16.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $4.47
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.40
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.53
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Highlighting Women Leaders throughout Time ...
The book devotes one or more chapters to individual female leaders throughout history. The first "warrior" - Boudica - truly was a warrior queen. She receives the most coverage with 7 chapters (approximately 100 pages) as well as occasional references throughout the book. Also included are Zenobia (3rd Century Queen of Palmyra), Matilda of Tuscany, Maud (daughter of Henry I), Queen Tamara (late 12th Century Georgia), Queen Isabella of Spain, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Jinga, Queen Louise of Prussia, and a few modern female leaders.
For the most part, the chapters comprise short biographies told in an easy-to-read narrative style. My only complaint is the strong female rights sub-theme or thesis. The attitudes are dated, albeit understandable since the book was first published in 1988.
The Warrior Queens serves as a good introduction to historical female leaders as well as an introductory biography for any one of the women covered.
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2: Slow Going
For all the exalted reputation Lady Antonia Fraser enjoys as a historian and writer, I expected this work to be far more informative and entertaining than it actually was. Despite her fascinating subject, Lady Fraser manages to flog it to death with endless historical references, obscure citations and literary allusions. I found the text to be so cluttered up and bogged down with arcane details and research notes that the actual subject matter was obscured by the author's very erudition. In a word: BORING. I hoped that after determinedly slogging through two opening chapters of explication and introduction, the body of the book pertaining to the fascinating women selected to represent history's Warrior Queens would pick up speed and capture my fast fading interest. Nope. Ponderous at best, the writing never seems to catch fire and I found myself hoping the next chapter would be better than the one I was reading. This is slow going and fails to reward the reader who actually gets through it. The last chapter of "summation" just repeats quotations and points made throughout the main text. Very disappointing and far from Lady Fraser's best effort. This more closely resembles the senior thesis of a graduate who has spent too much time in the library than the sparkling historical depiction of female political and military leaders throughout time which I was hoping to find.
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3: ANOTHER WINNER FROM ONE OF THE BEST HISTORIANS EVER
Antonia Fraser superbly writes about Boadicea of Great Britain, Catherine the Great of Russia, Elizabeth the First of England, Queen Isabella of Spain, the Rani of Jhansi, and the obscure Queen Jinga of Angola. All are delineated with grace and fervour and this book is another welcome addition to the opus of Lady Antonia Fraser. It is very highly recommended.
Timothy Wingate Ottawa CANADA
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4: Decent historical analysis
This is not a pop-history book. I picked this book up expecting it to be a very easy read but was surprised when I found myself reading through a book that would not have been out of place in any of my college history courses. Fraser has painted a very fascinating picture of various warrior queens around the world. Though at times, the narrative drags through her meticulous statement of facts, that is to be expected. I was very disappointed at her omission of the Egyptian pharaoh-queen Hatshepsut, however. Nevertheless, the women that she picks to include in her analysis make up a very good overview of the various warrior queens throughout the world and through time. It was an extremely interesting read and I would recommend it for anyone who has an interest in historical women as well as the the patience to read a (mostly) scholarly work.
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5: An attempted read
Perhaps I expected more from this book than was present, but I could hardly get through the first few chapters and I am an avid historic biography reader. I found her methods tiresome and boring, having the preference to recite found facts rather than compile and share, she reads like a card catalog. I now know exactly what to read if I do wish to learn something of these women she eludes to, but after having put this book down, I feel I am less wise to the subjects then when I started. I need a chronological telling of a person and their movement, not a forty-three page explanation of exactly who has written such things in the past. Perhaps, I stopped reading three or four chapters before it got good, but I doubt it. I was very disappointed.
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