Exploring women's past calls into question some of the traditional notions of what history is all about. Five feminist historians have chosen to write about women in different times over the past thousand years and on two continents. Medieval nuns in Europe, women in pre-industrial England, women in mid-nineteenth century Western Australia, spinsters in late Victorian England and prostitutes early this century are vividly portrayed and the forces that shaped their lives are explored. As Margaret Ker says, If we understand the forces which defeated them, are we not better equipped to avoid similar defeat? This is history at its best -- accessible to all those who delight in the way glimpses of the intricate fabric of women's lives can iluminate both past and present.