Mona Chollet's In Defense of Witches is a “brilliant, well-documented” celebration (Le Monde) by an acclaimed French feminist of the witch as a symbol of female rebellion and independence in the face of misogyny and persecution. Centuries after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for many: as fairy tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, as well as feminist icons. Witches are both the ultimate victim and the stubborn, elusive rebel. But who were the women who were accused and often killed for witchcraft? What types of women have centuries of terror censored, eliminated, and repressed? Celebrated feminist writer Mona Chollet explores three types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted: the independent woman, since widows and celibates were particularly targeted; the childless woman, since the time of the hunts marked the end of tolerance for those who claimed to control their fertility; and the elderly woman, who has always been an object of at best, pity, and at worst, horror. Examining modern society, Chollet concludes that these women continue to be harrassed and oppressed. Rather than being a brief moment in history, the persecution of witches is an example of society’s seemingly eternal misogyny, while women today are direct descendants to those who were hunted down and killed for their thoughts and actions. With fiery prose and arguments that range from the scholarly to the cultural, In Defense of Witches seeks to unite the mythic image of the witch with modern women who live their lives on their own terms.

"Today, only twenty percent of Americans are wed by age twenty-nine, compared to nearly sixty percent in 1960. The Population Reference Bureau calls it a 'dramatic reversal.' [This book presents a] portrait of contemporary American life and how we got here, through the lens of the single American woman, covering class, race, [and] sexual orientation, and filled with ... anecdotes from ... contemporary and historical figures"--

A groundbreaking history of the American Revolution that “vividly recounts Colonial women’s struggles for independence—for their nation and, sometimes, for themselves.... [Her] lively book reclaims a vital part of our political legacy" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). The American Revolution was a home-front war that brought scarcity, bloodshed, and danger into the life of every American. In this book, Carol Berkin shows us how women played a vital role throughout the conflict. The women of the Revolution were most active at home, organizing boycotts of British goods, raising funds for the fledgling nation, and managing the family business while struggling to maintain a modicum of normalcy as husbands, brothers and fathers died. Yet Berkin also reveals that it was not just the men who fought on the front lines, as in the story of Margaret Corbin, who was crippled for life when she took her husband’s place beside a cannon at Fort Monmouth. This incisive and comprehensive history illuminates a fascinating and unknown side of the struggle for American independence.

This book will help women avoid the pitfalls that can make her life hell; but more importantly, it will put her into a frame of mind that will allow her to enjoy life and never be taken for granted, used and abused. Women are being mentally coerced, emotionally abused, physically attacked, sexually assaulted and financially deceived; and not much is being done to crush the cancer, until it is too late, after the event. It is imperative she takes full-responsibility for her own protection and not expect anyone to do it for her. Having a high-flying job and earning lots of money will not make you independent, if you cannot be yourself how, where and when you want to, because you are afraid of upsetting a coercive boss, work colleague, husband, partner, child or ‘friend’. If someone arranges for your house to be burgled; harms your children; targets your cash; spreads a vicious rumour against you; denigrates you in public; causes you to lose your job; insults your religion, ethnic origin or sexual proclivity; then he/she would have beaten you...without touching you! You cannot be independent if you are forced to worry about any of these obstacles.

'This book is a true key to female independence. It offers practical advice and strategies for women who want to achieve financial and emotional freedom. With a honest and direct approach, the author shares his own journey to independence and teaches how readers can follow their own steps to achieve personal and professional fulfillment. With this book, women will learn to overcome the social and mental barriers that prevent them from achieving their dreams, and will feel the strength and courage to achieve the independence they deserve. '

“Like man, woman is a human being.” When The Second Sex was first published in Paris in 1949—groundbreaking, risqué, brilliantly written and strikingly modern—it provoked both outrage and inspiration. The Independent Woman contains three key chapters of Beauvoir’s masterwork, which illuminate the feminine condition and identify practical social reforms for gender equality. It captures the essence of the spirited manifesto that switched on light bulbs in the heads of a generation of women and continues to exert profound influence on feminists today.