Available:*
Item Barcode | Collection | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33607001195133 | Juvenile Nonfiction | 920 MELTZER | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Powerful female rulers interpreted in striking words and paintingsFrom the courage and beauty of Esther to the reforming spirit of Catherine the Great. here are essays about ten queens by an author who has been called "arguably the best writer of social history for children and adolescents ever". Meltzer, by his own description, is accustomed to presenting history "from the bottom up", but he takes a "top down" approach for these monarchs, revealing the personal and political natures of women who commanded power not because "they happened to marry a king" but because they "ruled in their own right, by themselves. Or if they sat on thrones beside kings, they had as much or more to say about governing than their husbands".Most were, by today's standards, astonishingly young. Many were physically powerful, accomplished women. Some were schooled to rule, others not. But all were ambitious, passionate, and determined to hold power. All were subject to suspicion and envy. And all, in their successes and failures, ideals and compromises, assumptions and privileges, present interesting contrasts with the lives of women today.
Author Notes
Historian Milton Meltzer was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1915. He attended Columbia University, but had to leave during his senior year because of the Great Depression. He got a job writing for the WPA Federal Theater Project. During World War II, he served as an air traffic controller in the Army Air Corps. After the war, he worked as a writer for CBS radio and in public relations for Pfizer.
In 1956, he published his first book A Pictorial History of the Negro American, which was co-written by Langston Hughes. They also collaborated on Langston Hughes: A Biography, which was published in 1968 and received the Carter G. Woodson award. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 110 books for young people including Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? about the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression; Never to Forget about the Holocaust; and There Comes a Time about the Civil Rights movement. He also addressed such topics as crime, ancient Egypt, the immigrant experience, labor movements, photography, piracy, poverty, racism, and slavery. He wrote numerous biographies including ones on Mary McLeod Bethune, Lydia Maria Child, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Sanger, and Henry David Thoreau. He received the 2000 Regina Medal and the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his body of work and his lasting contribution to children's literature. He died of esophageal cancer on September 19, 2009 at the age of 94.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-10ÄQueens, when they are ruling monarchs, are second choices. They come to power because of the death or absence of kings, and must prove themselves capable of political leadership. A few of the 10 chosen by Meltzer ruled with independence and skill, notably Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, and Catherine the Great. Boudicca of Britain and Zenobia of Palmyra were warrior queens. Others, like the biblical Esther, lived in times of crisis and made choices that changed history. Eleanor of Aquitaine was a matriarch as well as a monarch, and Christina of Sweden was neither, refusing to marry and abdicating power to live grandly. Of necessity, much of the description deals with men, the kings who came before and after, the advisers, the generals, the plotters, and supporters who peopled their realms. While occasional comments suggest the conflicts that these women must have faced because of their sex, Meltzer writes traditional political history. He has a storyteller's flair and an eye for the small details and anecdotes that bring these queens to life. An added note explains the difficulties researchers face in sifting legend from fact and in weighing historical evidence. Colorful expressionistic paintings, boldly stroked onto unframed panels, enrich the pages. Decorative touches of flowers and jewels on the vibrant portraits celebrate the women's wealth and femininity. While the sources of the quotations that are woven into the accounts are not identified, there is a bibliography of standard histories consulted. Maps and an index add to the usefulness of the book for reports, and the well-spaced lines of text make the pages inviting to read. This book will grace the history shelves and provide pleasure to its readers.ÄShirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In what PW called "an enticing mix of history and biography," this handsomely designed and illustrated volume covers a 2,000-year time span, revealing many events and personal characteristics that contribute to 10 women rulers' rise to power. He includes Cleopatra and Elizabeth I, as well as the lesser-known Boudicca (who led a revolt against the Romans circa A.D. 60). Ages 12-up. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Table of Contents
| Preface | p. ix |
| Esther | p. 3 |
| Cleopatra | p. 11 |
| Boudicca | p. 25 |
| Lenobia | p. 33 |
| Eleanor of Aquitaine | p. 43 |
| Isabel of Spain | p. 59 |
| Elizabeth I | p. 73 |
| Christina of Sweden | p. 85 |
| Maria Theresa | p. 97 |
| Catherine the Great | p. 109 |
| A Note on Sources | p. 125 |
| Bibliography | p. 127 |
| Index | p. 131 |