Why read When Women Ruled the World?

Book cover of When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt

Book description

This riveting narrative explores the lives of six remarkable female pharaohs, from Hatshepsut to Cleopatra--women who ruled with real power--and shines a piercing light on our own perceptions of women in power today.

Female rulers are a rare phenomenon--but thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, women reigned supreme. Regularly,…

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Why read it?

3 authors picked When Women Ruled the World as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Ann Durkin Keating

Author

Explores the key role of women in leading
Ancient Egypt.

From Ann's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

DeAnne Blanton

Author

Kara Cooney is an amazing writer -- she brings ancient history to life in an accessible way. Plus, we need more works about history's overlooked women.

From DeAnne's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Susan Broomhall

Author

This is a very accessible introduction to six of the most powerful women of Egypt, women whose actions took place around, and sometimes as, pharaohs. Little-known queens, Merneith, Tawosret, and Neferusobek are considered alongside Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra. This approach helps Cooney to weave together a compelling story about female lives and expectations for women in ancient Egypt, and how this shaped these individuals’ access, use, and justifications for wielding power, some of which sound very familiar to discussions about women who hold power in our own time.

The evidence is necessarily patchy and the arguments sometimes speculative, as Cooney…

From Susan's list on The best books to make you think about women and power in history.