Uppity Women of the Renaissance [Paperback]

Vicki Leon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999

Introducing some of history's most dangerous, outrageous, and flamboyant women, Uppity Women of the Renaissance introduces readers to ex-nun Catalina de Erauso, who dueled, drank, and cross-dressed her way through Spain and North America; Chiyome, who started a profitable business renting out female ninjas, called "deadly flowers," in 16-century Japan; and Zubayda, an Arab engineer who, when she wasn't busy building aqueducts, roads, or entire cities, found time to throw lavish, Martha Stewart-style parties. Covering wide geographical ground and combining meticulous historical research, period artwork, and a rollicking sense of humor, this latest volume in the Uppity Women series profiles more than 200 heroines, hussies, and harpies of the fourteenth through the 17th centuries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Conari Pr; illustrated edition edition (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157324127X
• ISBN-13: 978-1573241274
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #949,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My roots: convinced I was left on strangers' doorstep in the Pacific Northwest, I fled in my teens and began to fill the first of seven passports. Wanderlust is apparently hereditary; my progeny now busy filling their own passports.
My higher education: mostly self-inflicted
I collect: pyramids, ancient cemeteries, seashells, foreign languages, long stays in foreign lands.
Allergic to: gray skies, household routines, watches, gas-guzzlers.
Addicted to: laughter, Spanish aceitunas con anchoas, George Dalaras and other Greek music, foreign films, beach walks, getting a glimpse of animals and birds in the wild.
Am a magnet for: odd facts, weird stories, unusual connections (all of them fodder for my writing)
Am sustained by: a worldwide web of family, friends, publishing colleagues, and readers

My books: 35 titles (about half of them for readers 10 and up). Many, miraculously still in print.

My GOALS as a writer of nonfiction:
1. Dig deeper to find the whole human history, to illuminate the unsung men and women of long ago
2. Leaven my books with humor and humanity
3. Try to astonish the reader on every page. Astonish, from the Latin attonare, "to be struck by lightning." Thus to write in a way that leaves the reader thunderstruck.

My research: more fun than a whodunit. In fact, I go through a lot of shoe leather even when I'm time-traveling.That's why I call myself (partly tongue in cheek) Vicki Leon, historical detective

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rennaissance Women is Really Uppity!, October 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Uppity Women of the Renaissance (Paperback)

This crazy writer, V. Leon, sure knows how to write! All the stories here are wild and crazy and fun to read. These books ought to be required reading in all the schools...I mean, why not make history fun for a change! Which Uppity Women of the Rennaissance surely does. I highly recommend it to everyone except the most uptight sorts, or them that are easily offended. I loved it!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining History or "Herstory", April 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Uppity Women of the Renaissance (Paperback)

This book is the funniest one you'll read about women you've never heard of! She gives each woman a page or two description with humor and history, and she makes you think of "uppity" as a great thing, but don't look for the dainty and softspoken women here. Laugh and learn about the forgotten women of the Renaissance.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More detail, please!, October 28, 2004

By 

The Feisty Curmudgeon (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uppity Women of the Renaissance (Paperback)

Prior to reading "Uppity Women of the Renaissance", I'd only ever heard of Vicki Leon's "Uppity Women" series, but hadn't read any of them. I found the title to be both intriguing and amusing. Having finished "Renaissance", I'm not really sure whether I want to read the other books in the series or not. In only 300 pages, Leon covers the lives of 100 of the Renaissance's most uppity women. As you can imagine, 100 women crammed into 300 pages doesn't leave much room for a lot of detail. Many of the women discussed seemed to have been mentioned briefly in old records and not much is actually known about them, other than the fact that they may have, for example, owned a successful business.

Leon attempts to weave modern jokes and cynicisms into the stories, as in "Busier than a two-career car-pooler with three kids, La Grosse Margot was one of many women who...". Sometimes I found these dashes of humor to be laugh-out-loud funny; other times, they were annoying.

It was really nice to read about so many interesting women. I'd never read or heard anything about most of them before. I just wish there had more detail...a lot more detail. Much of the time, the brief stories seem like sketches or outlines for a wonderful full-length book. Won't some kind-hearted author out there please write a nice full-length book on one of these women? The life of Christian Davies would be a good one to start with!