This lively memoir recounts the story of a determined woman who led a remarkable life in the highest circles of power in both state and national politics. Catherine Conner spent her formative years on a farm named "Solitude," located outside of Bardstown. Her father, who taught her early to ride and swim, told the young woman, "I can't teach you how to be a lady, but I can teach you how to behave like a gentleman." She was weaned on a secret "early breakfast" of bourbon and milk toddies that her father brought to her every morning. Though she enjoyed privilege, Conner also witnessed the harsher sides of rural life. Those experiences markedly shaped the personality of a woman who would become the youngest National Democratic Committeewoman and would subsequently serve in FDR's inner circle. Conner began her political career in Kentucky under the tutelage of J. Dan Talbott of Bardstown, heading the successful effort to have Federal Hill, better known as "My Old Kentucky Home," preserved as a state park, which has now become one of the most popular in Kentucky. When local leaders proved only mildly supportive of the project, Conner devised a campaign in 1921 that raised $45,000 by having schoolchildren all over the state drop their pennies into a cardboard replica of the famous home. She acted as a special assistant to Harry Hopkins for five years, helping set up departments to carry out New Deal programs and lobbying. She befriended many of the shapers of the 20th Century, including Senator Sam Rayburn, A.B. "Happy" Chandler, and Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia. Throughout her life, Conner witnessed remarkable events. She saw the Hindenburg crash, met Amelia Earhart, and had Cary Grant show her how to gut a Thanksgiving turkey.

Born in Nebraska in 1875, Kate Barnard spent most of her childhood in Kansas, where family dislocation and financial failure darkened her early life. After Barnard and her father moved to Oklahoma Territory in the 1890s, Kate had unsatisfying stints as a schoolteacher and a stenographer before she discovered her life work in politics and social reform. One Woman’s Political Journey: Kate Barnard and Social Reform, 1875—1930 details the life’s work—including the political successes and failures—of a complex and courageous woman who appreciated that she was on the cutting edge of new and novel opportunities for women. Crusading for the disadvantaged, Barnard became a spokeswoman for child labor laws, a compulsory school attendance law, a juvenile justice system, and a modern penal structure. In 1907, at age thirty-two, she became the first woman in the nation elected to a state post—Commissioner of Charities and Corrections, a post created specifically for her by Oklahoma’s constitutional convention. Her dramatic rhetoric and favorable publicity attracted national attention and the admiration of Oklahomans. Convinced that women could effect positive change, she encouraged them to move into the public arena and embrace social justice reform. She also formed a coalition of farmers and laborers that led to the creation of Oklahoma’s Democratic Party. In her first term, Barnard persuaded Oklahoma’s all-male legislature to pass reforms announcing state responsibility for the welfare of children and forced changes in the state’s humanitarian institutions. In her second term, she sought protection for property rights of American Indian children. But Barnard’s career was not without obstacles. Her lack of control over budgets and personnel, along with her frequent clashing with male politicians limited her effectiveness and fueled her growing discouragement with politics. Named by Oklahoma Today as one of the fifty most influential Oklahomans in the past one hundred years, Kate Barnard is finally the deserved focus of a full-length scholarly biography.

Power Play is an honest guide for women who aspire to leadership in the workplace and in the world, from the trailblazing Julia Banks. Having won the ‘unwinnable’ seat that secured the Coalition Government majority in 2016, Julia Banks shocked Australia when she announced she would stand as an independent MP in 2018, having experienced a toxic workplace culture in the country’s centre of power – designed by men for their dominance. Julia doesn’t just know what power looks like in a political sense; she made it to the top of her game in the legal and corporate sectors before running for parliament. And at every level, she had to navigate through the bias, barriers and boys’ clubs that aim to silence women or deter them from leadership roles. Power Play reveals the unvarnished realities of any workplace where power disparities and gender politics collide: from the unequal opportunities, casual sexism and systemic misogyny, to pressures around looks, age and family responsibilities, and the consequences of speaking out. Julia shares personal stories, practical advice, and a resounding argument for why women aren’t the problem – but why more women in decision-making positions will help us find the solution. For anyone who is aspiring to lead, this book will help you to navigate there. And for anyone who believes that women’s voices need to be heard equally, it will inspire you to strive until that is our reality.

Founders of the global women's movement share personal accounts about the trials and challenges of their work.