March is Women's History Month—so what better time to delve into the past and read about women who have impacted our world, all in books researched and written by women. From empresses to activists, pioneering scientists to secret spies, these 10 titles highlight remarkable women and their stories.

In the Shadow of the Empress: The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters by Nancy Goldstone

Follow the sprawling saga of Empress Maria Theresa—one of the most renowned women rulers in history—and three of her extraordinary daughters, including Marie Antoinette, the doomed queen of France.

 

 

 

 

Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray by Rosalind Rosenberg

This biography tracks the life of African American activist and lawyer Pauli Murray, who played pivotal roles in both the modern civil rights and women's movements, all while struggling with the issue of her own gender identity.

 

 

 

 

Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

This is the true story of Ona Judge, George and Martha Washington’s runaway slave who risked everything to escape the nation’s capital and reach freedom and the first family's relentless pursuit of her.

 

 

 

The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel

Dive into the little-known true story of the unexpected and remarkable contributions to astronomy made by a group of women working in the Harvard College Observatory from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s.

 

 

 

The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos by Judith Batalion

Shares the stories of the courageous women who risked their lives to work against the Nazis as fighters, intelligence agents, and saboteurs.

 

 

 

 

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

Recounts the struggles of hundreds of women who were exposed to radium while working factory jobs during World War I, describing how they were misled by their employers and became embroiled in a battle for workers' rights.

 

 

 

 

Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals by Saidiya Hartman

Explore the evolution of the lives of young Black women living in Philadelphia and New York in the early 20th century.

 

 

 

 

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

A Chinese woman chronicles the struggle of her grandmother, her mother, and herself to survive in a China torn apart by wars, invasions, revolution, and continuing upheaval.

 

 

 

 

 

Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Barbara Ehrenreich

Examines how women-led healing was delegitimized to make way for patriarchy, capitalism, and the emerging medical industry.

 

 

 

 

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy who Helped Win WWII by Sonia Purnell

Virginia Hall was the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and she helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.

 

 

 

 

 

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Summaries provided are adapted via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.