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A review by thefatflatcat
What Would Boudicca Do?: Everyday Problems Solved by History's Most Remarkable Women by Elizabeth Foley
4.0
3.5
I read the first half of it in one day, as it's easy to get sucked in! The chapters /stories are super short, so it's definitely motivating you to read one after the other. I liked that lots of women were introduced that I had heard of, but never had had the chance to investigate their stories in more detail. Generally, the writing was entertaining and witty, also the drawings of each person at the chapter openings fit the book nicely.
What I could have done without were the gimmicky references to social media and current-day pop culture. It would have been an absolutely marvellous book if the authors had decided to keep it a historical collection of lesser known female figures. The bits where they wrote about inspiration we can take from different people's stories were sometimes painfully farfetched. Also, in my opinion people who were involved in antisemitism shouldn't be lauded for whatever inventions they were responsible for, they do not deserve to be displayed in a book. (Of course, there are no such people that are ever only good or evil, but I feel like antisemitism and rascism need to be treated differently.)
Regardless, I enjoyed myself and this reminded me of how much I am actually interested in history. It made me want to read more memoirs/ history-based books! (Also, thanks for the gift, Sandra! I'm happy I got to read this :) )
I read the first half of it in one day, as it's easy to get sucked in! The chapters /stories are super short, so it's definitely motivating you to read one after the other. I liked that lots of women were introduced that I had heard of, but never had had the chance to investigate their stories in more detail. Generally, the writing was entertaining and witty, also the drawings of each person at the chapter openings fit the book nicely.
What I could have done without were the gimmicky references to social media and current-day pop culture. It would have been an absolutely marvellous book if the authors had decided to keep it a historical collection of lesser known female figures. The bits where they wrote about inspiration we can take from different people's stories were sometimes painfully farfetched. Also, in my opinion people who were involved in antisemitism shouldn't be lauded for whatever inventions they were responsible for, they do not deserve to be displayed in a book. (Of course, there are no such people that are ever only good or evil, but I feel like antisemitism and rascism need to be treated differently.)
Regardless, I enjoyed myself and this reminded me of how much I am actually interested in history. It made me want to read more memoirs/ history-based books! (Also, thanks for the gift, Sandra! I'm happy I got to read this :) )