Assesses women's leading and still largely unknown contributions to the development of human civilization and refutes the myth that women have always been subordinate to men.

This book presents the results of Heide Goettner-Abendroth's pioneering research in the field of modern matriarchal studies, based on a new definition of «matriarchy» as true gender-egalitarian societies. This new perspective on matriarchal societies is developed step by step by the analysis of extant indigenous cultures in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Historical roots of the women's movement shown through a discussion of the family structure in ancient matriarchal societies.

Brigadier General Teté Puebla, the highest-ranking woman in Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces, joined the struggle to overthrow the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1956, when she was fifteen years old. This is her story--from clandestine action in the cities, to serving as an officer