Wonderful Book

Enjoyed this book's journalistic approach to history tremendously. Many female figures are vivid, multi-faceted, intelligent, and admirable. In contrast, many male characters are self-serving, greedy, short-sighted, unscrupulous fools that are both despicable and disappointing. Sadly, in today's world some five hundred years later, some of the darker aspects of history are still being repeated, whether in terms of religious/ideology clashes or sexism in various fields. The consistency of human nature throughout history is sometimes comforting and heartwarming, but more times lamentable and regrettable.