Did women do nothing to shape our country’s culture and traditions during nine centuries of political turmoil, plague, famine, prosperity, religious reform? Philippa Gregory answers this question by telling stories of the soldiers, guild widows, highwaywomen, pirates, miners and ship owners, international traders, theatre runners, social campaigners and ‘female husbands’ who did much to build the fabric of our society and in ways as diverse and varied as the women themselves. This is not another book about heroines. Instead, it is a book about millions of women. The ‘normal women’ you meet in these pages rode in jousts, issued their own currency and built ships and houses as part of their daily lives. By highlighting the drive, ingenuity and vast contributions women made, it puts women back where they belong in our history – centre stage.