Annabelle Hirsch on A History of Women in 101 Objects

The way we remember the past today remains dishearteningly patriarchal: a place where women have always been oppressed by men, from ancient times to the present day.

In A History of Women in 101 Objects, Annabelle Hirsch tells a new story of female history, revealing the evolution of the role women have played in society through the quiet power of their everyday items.

Much of what we've read about history focuses on the men in power: women's stories are too often hidden or considered unremarkable. But in this collection, Hirsch curates a compendium of women and their things, uncovering the thoughts and feelings at the heart of women's daily lives, to offer an intimate and lively alternative history.

The objects date from prehistory to today and are assembled chronologically to show the evolution of how women were perceived by others, how they perceived themselves, how they fought for freedom. For example, what do handprints on early cave paintings tell us about the role of women in hunting? What does a mobile phone have to do with femicides? Or Kim Kardashian's diamond ring with Elena Ferrante?

Wide-ranging, subversive, witty and superbly researched, this is a book that upends all our assumptions about, and presentations of, the past.

Whimsical, fun and witty. Annabelle Hirsch's book is a like a treasure hunt through history, culture, politics, fashion and art - from cave paintings and bikinis to menstruation cups and Madame Pompadour's sealing stamp -- ANDREA WULF

Such a satisfying and educational insight into the minds and activities of our united ancestors and a reminder, lest we forget, that women are and have always been, whether quietly or vociferously, on the periphery or centre stage, the engine, the glue, the inspiration behind it all -- GILLIAN ANDERSON

I adored this book! Our history and our power are not just ideas, but play out in the ways we interact with the physical world. Hirsch's intimate observational gifts turn that world into a rousing, living record of all that we have wrestled with -- OLIVIA COLMAN

A fantastic cabinet of curiosities that rethinks the role of women in history. Educational, funny - a joy! -- LEILA SLIMANI