"The author's book adds an impressive contribution and paints a comprehensive picture about the role of ordinary African women in the African history and development. The book is a valuable addition to several fields including gender, political studies, and history studies."
~Leeds African Studies Bulletin
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This comprehensive work on African women decisively adds to the understanding of the subject. . . . Highly recommended.
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~Choice
"This is an essential book that will enrich undergraduate classroom discussions and, hopefully, bring more attention to the rich and creative scholarship produced by scholars of gender and women's studies.
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~Canadian Journal of African Studies
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This book should be regarded as a magisterial achievement, and will no doubt find a well-deserved place on a whole host of undergraduate reading lists.
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~Gender & History
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Sheldon has made an important contribution to the field of African women's history with this text, and African Women will become a staple in undergraduate courses while also serving as a handy reference text for graduate students and scholars.
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~African Studies Review
"Kathleen Sheldon's book provides a great spine around which one could build a women's history of Africa survey course or better yet, a feminist history of Africa survey course."
~Abosede George, Barnard College
"A comprehensive history of African women remains a necessity given that current histories of Africa are—after more than 45 years of scholarship on African women—mostly histories of men's actions. Kathleen Sheldon provides a thoroughly researched long view of African women's material lives, social relations, challenges, and forms of mobilization to change their societies."
~Judith Van Allen, Cornell University