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rmcleodreynolds's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
c_totume's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
I really liked this book, had it on my tbr for quite a while and can’t remember where i first saw it, but im glad, that i finally read it!
zestylobster's review against another edition
5.0
wow ok, just nothing more to say than that lol, like this was so well written, the stories of the five women were intertwined so well, this is like one of the few non-fiction pieces i've read where im like ya this is enjoyable. The ending of each woman's story was sooo sad literally like,,, reading about Czaplicka's death and Routledge's final years were devastating. really good cool insight into anthropology and women anthrops in early 20th C, and i cannot wait to have a real detailed browse thru the footnotes on the website !! >:3
velarin's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
I am not a big fan of biographies but this one was a truly compelling read - it may be so because the volume was divided between five women and their intermingling lives. Larson's work is well written and thoroughly researched. Stories it tells are full of ambition and determination, as well as tragedy and pain. Our protagonists pushed forward, towards knowledge and success, even though in the end some of them fell victim to the cold misogyny of their world.
My biggest issue with this book is a lack of any deeper commentary on the place of anthropology in imperialist system and the role our heroines played in its maintenance. I think it's a missed opportunity to show that while oppressed as women, they still participated in science that was in its essence discriminatory.
Though I can't lie - it's pretty fun feeling morally superior to some rich British aristocrats, who wouldn't notice their own privilege if it punched them in the face.
*A sidenote I find funny is the complete change in the title of Polish translation of the book - "Pioneers. Maria Czaplicka and unknown heroines of anthropology". The strategy of using Maria's name for domestic market is obvious but I find the complete omission of the "British" element intriguing.
My biggest issue with this book is a lack of any deeper commentary on the place of anthropology in imperialist system and the role our heroines played in its maintenance. I think it's a missed opportunity to show that while oppressed as women, they still participated in science that was in its essence discriminatory.
Though I can't lie - it's pretty fun feeling morally superior to some rich British aristocrats, who wouldn't notice their own privilege if it punched them in the face.
*A sidenote I find funny is the complete change in the title of Polish translation of the book - "Pioneers. Maria Czaplicka and unknown heroines of anthropology". The strategy of using Maria's name for domestic market is obvious but I find the complete omission of the "British" element intriguing.
steve1213's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
megelizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
3.5
"It was lonely, haphazard and fleeting, but in the right hands it could make you immortal."
This book wasn't what I was expecting at all - I picked it up thinking it was about general explorers rather than academic anthropologists - but I found it thoroughly fascinating nonetheless. It's incredibly well-written and clearly meticulously researched, and it does such a great job of showcasing the women's lives and in highlighting the ways they were shaped, ruined, and in some cases ended by the misogyny they experienced. Although it was sometimes a little confusing trying to keep each woman's timeline straight, generally I enjoyed the narrative structure and found the storytelling effective. It provides a great insight into colonial life and into the world wars and the inter-war years, and it taught me a lot about an area of history I knew next to nothing about going in.
My issue with this book is its lack of real criticism of the colonial nature and general invasiveness of the practice of anthropology. I hugely appreciate the way it shines a light on the difficulties the women faced within the discipline, but I felt uncomfortable reading about some of their beliefs, actions, and experiences nonetheless. If only the book had explicitly connected the misogyny faced by the women studied as well as those doing the studying, and recognised that the women anthropologists still deserve serious criticism, it would've been an even stronger, more rounded, more feminist read. It does what it set out to do well, and I generally thought it was a good read, but I just wish it'd gone that bit further and done justice to the lives it touches on.
This book wasn't what I was expecting at all - I picked it up thinking it was about general explorers rather than academic anthropologists - but I found it thoroughly fascinating nonetheless. It's incredibly well-written and clearly meticulously researched, and it does such a great job of showcasing the women's lives and in highlighting the ways they were shaped, ruined, and in some cases ended by the misogyny they experienced. Although it was sometimes a little confusing trying to keep each woman's timeline straight, generally I enjoyed the narrative structure and found the storytelling effective. It provides a great insight into colonial life and into the world wars and the inter-war years, and it taught me a lot about an area of history I knew next to nothing about going in.
My issue with this book is its lack of real criticism of the colonial nature and general invasiveness of the practice of anthropology. I hugely appreciate the way it shines a light on the difficulties the women faced within the discipline, but I felt uncomfortable reading about some of their beliefs, actions, and experiences nonetheless. If only the book had explicitly connected the misogyny faced by the women studied as well as those doing the studying, and recognised that the women anthropologists still deserve serious criticism, it would've been an even stronger, more rounded, more feminist read. It does what it set out to do well, and I generally thought it was a good read, but I just wish it'd gone that bit further and done justice to the lives it touches on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Misogyny, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Death
luftschlosseule's review against another edition
4.0
trigger warning
misogyny, colonialism, racism, suicide, mental illness, grief, slur against sinti and roma, being hospitalized against ones will
In this book, Frances Larson explores the stories of five women who pioneered in British Anthropology: Katherine Routledge, Barbara Freire-Marreco, Maria Czaplicka, Winifred Blackman and Beatrice Blackwood.
At no point does the author claim to have chosen the most important women, or in general the most important anthropologists. She does not explain her choices, though, but they center around all of them having ties to Oxford so it makes sense. The changes of topic from one person to another are very elegantly managed, too.
So, to sum it up in short, since anthropology was a new field, the teachers were fighting for every student who was interested in getting and education on that topic, and since there was enough space, and the teachers were more liberal minded than others, women were given the opportunity to attend classes, though it took a while till every student was eligible for a degree.
Yes, women suffrage is a topic, but not a big one as these five women had other, more pressing problems.
The main one being that officials didn't deem it safe for an unaccompanied woman to live with natives, and in turn if it was deemed safe, it mostly meant that the villages already were praying in church and had abandoned the traditions that made them so interesting in the first place.
The author chose to not include footnotes, but instead the reader can access a page on her website with further information and the relevant sources.
I was not prepared for how grim some of these stories turned out to be. Two of the five women died by suicide, a third was shut away in a mental hospital in a fight for inherited money.
I can hardly fault the author for things that have happened, it's just unfortunate that I turned to this book to distract me from a bad mental health day.
I liked this book. I will read more from the same author, and more on this topic.
I will seek out the works by these five women, especially those on Egyptian peasantry life.
The arc was provided by the publisher.
In this book, Frances Larson explores the stories of five women who pioneered in British Anthropology: Katherine Routledge, Barbara Freire-Marreco, Maria Czaplicka, Winifred Blackman and Beatrice Blackwood.
At no point does the author claim to have chosen the most important women, or in general the most important anthropologists. She does not explain her choices, though, but they center around all of them having ties to Oxford so it makes sense. The changes of topic from one person to another are very elegantly managed, too.
So, to sum it up in short, since anthropology was a new field, the teachers were fighting for every student who was interested in getting and education on that topic, and since there was enough space, and the teachers were more liberal minded than others, women were given the opportunity to attend classes, though it took a while till every student was eligible for a degree.
Yes, women suffrage is a topic, but not a big one as these five women had other, more pressing problems.
The main one being that officials didn't deem it safe for an unaccompanied woman to live with natives, and in turn if it was deemed safe, it mostly meant that the villages already were praying in church and had abandoned the traditions that made them so interesting in the first place.
The author chose to not include footnotes, but instead the reader can access a page on her website with further information and the relevant sources.
I was not prepared for how grim some of these stories turned out to be. Two of the five women died by suicide, a third was shut away in a mental hospital in a fight for inherited money.
I can hardly fault the author for things that have happened, it's just unfortunate that I turned to this book to distract me from a bad mental health day.
I liked this book. I will read more from the same author, and more on this topic.
I will seek out the works by these five women, especially those on Egyptian peasantry life.
The arc was provided by the publisher.