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The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History captures the experiences of women throughout world history in a comprehensive, 4-volume work. Although there has been extensive research on women in history by region, no text or reference work has comprehensively covered the role women have played throughout world history. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History benefits greatly from these efforts and experiences, and illuminates how women worldwide have influenced and been influenced by these historical, social, and demographic changes. The Encyclopedia contains over 1,300 signed articles arranged in an A-Z format for ease of use. The entries cover six main areas: biographies; geography and history; comparative culture and society, including adoption, abortion, performing arts; organizations and movements, such as the Egyptian Uprising, and the Paris Commune; womens and gender studies; and topics in world history that include slave trade, globalization, and disease.

Women have been writing about their lives for hundreds of years, and their autobiographical works are a record of the eras and cultures in which they lived. Through nearly 200 alphabetically arranged entries written by more than 130 expert contributors, this encyclopedia overviews women autobiographers and autobiography from the Middle Ages to the present. Entries discuss individual writers, major works, national and ethnic autobiographical traditions, particular autobiographical genres, and special terms, issues, and themes related to women's autobiography from around the world.

The enthusiastic response to the Dictionary has prompted this second substantially enlarged, revised and updated edition. It now contains essential details of the lives of over 2000 women from all periods, cultures and walks of life - from queens to cooks, engineers to entertainers, pilots to poisoners. The new entries include women who have hit the headlines in the past five years - from Cory Aquino to Madonna - but the historical coverage has also been broadened in response to new research and a special new feature is the extended treatment of women from Third World countries. With subsections for further reading, comprehensive subject index and bibliographical survey, the Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography is an invaluable reference source - and a fascinating bed-time read.

The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography contains details of the lives of over 2100 women from all periods, cultures and walks of life - from queens to TV chefs, engineers to stand up comics, pilots to poisoners. With subsections for further reading, comprehensive subject index and a bibliographical survey, this dictionary of women's biography is an invaluable reference source.