Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 13 November 2008.

Women gladiators, women in the Bayeaux Tapestry, women inventors, Sandi Toksvig uncovers them all in her light hearted approach to the serious message of this book – women have always done amazing things but have mostly been overlooked by history. There’s a mass of facts and information of all kinds including scientific evidence that women’s brains are as good as boys but wired differently and that the first woman to swim the channel was faster than any boy who had done it before (14hrs, 31mins. The result is a book which will make girls realise that anything is possible – and that women have already done most of everything already!

Synopsis

For as long as history has been recorded, girls haven't had much of a look in amongst all the great men we remember. But that doesn't mean they weren't there. And it doesn't mean that they didn't achieve great things, come up with wonderful inventions or win battles!

Lots of people have heard of Joan of Arc, Boadicea and Florence Nightingale, but . . . Did you know that there were actually female Gladiators - Gladiatrices? Or that Nimkasi was the Sumerian Goddess of Beer? Or that it was Mary Jacob Phelps who invented the bra?

In this book, Sandi Toksvig shows that His-tory is actually Her-story. Though they're often ignored or overlooked, they have changed the world. There's no question about it . . . Girls are best!

About the Author

Following a first-class degree from Cambridge, Sandi Toksvig went into the theatre, where she both wrote and performed before becoming one of the founder members of the Comedy Store Players. She is well known for her television and radio work, as a presenter, writer and actor. She has written four books for children including Unusual Day, published by Young Corgi in 1996. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation