Women in the Historical Context of World History

Women in history is always a fascinating and captivating topic. Passions are boiling, and the reins of power fall into a woman’s hands—over entire states—and history changes forever. This new book by N. I. Basovskaya is dedicated to such outstanding female rulers. Here are “the father of the poor and judge of widows” Queen Tamar, and “the peaceful warrior” Fredegunda, and Anne of Austria, who proclaimed, “My reward is not in my crown,” and later became the prototype for the main heroine of Alexandre Dumas’s novels.

And what an astonishing image is that of the freedom-loving and fearless Malinche—once influential in the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards! How riveting is the fate of Queen Zenobia of Palmyra—so gripping, as if someone invented it on purpose—whose fame began with the declaration of Rome’s independence and the subjugation of Syria, the eastern part of Asia Minor, and Egypt, and ended also in Rome, where she was brought, already defeated, in golden chains.

The cycle ends with the story of Marina Mniszech, the wife of False Dmitry II—the first crowned Russian queen.