Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer and viruses; helped lead to in vitro...

An exuberant group biography—"a splendidly various collection of 'brief lives' written with both gusto and sensitivity" (The Guardian)—that follows ten women in 1950s Britain whose pioneering lives paved the way for feminism and laid the foundation of modern women's success.

In Her Brilliant Career, Rachel Cooke goes back in time to offer an entertaining and iconoclastic look at ten women in the 1950s—pioneers whose professional

...

Hild is no longer the bright child who made a place in Edwin Overking's court with her seemingly supernatural insight. She is eighteen, honed and tested, the formidable Lady of Elmet, now building her personal stronghold in the valley of Menewood. But Edwin needs his most trusted advisor. Old alliances are fraying. Younger rivals are snapping at his heels. War is brewing--bitter war, winter war. Not knowing who to trust he becomes volatile and unpredictable....

This encyclopedia captures the experiences of women throughout world history and illuminates how they have influenced and been influenced by these historical, social, and demographic changes. It contains over 1,300 signed articles covering six main areas: biographies; geography and history; comparative culture and society; organizations and movements; womens and gender studies; and topics in world history.

For much of the twentieth century sweating was considered unladylike and girls grew up believing physical exertion would cause their uterus to literally fall out. It was only in the sixties that women began to move en masse. Friedman reveals the hidden history of contemporary women's fitness culture, and shows how exercise evolved from a beauty tool pitched almost exclusively as a way to "reduce" into a path to mental, emotional, and physical well-being....

"When truth teller and careful writer bell hooks offers a book, I like to be standing at the bookshop when it opens." –Maya Angelou

Renowned visionary bell hooks explored the meaning of love in American culture with the critically acclaimed bestseller All About Love: New Visions. She continued her national dialogue with the bestselling Salvation: Black People and Love. Now hooks culminates her triumphant trilogy

...

This book contains contributions by many of today's well-known cultural and literary critics on women's writing, women's history and women's concerns. There are 771 entries, covering psychoanalysis, poetry, autobiography, and more.