From Vikings and African queens to cross-dressing military doctors and WWII Russian fighter pilots, these are the stories of women for whom battle was not a metaphor. In this fascinating and lively world history, Pamela Toler not only introduces us to women who took up arms but also shows why they did it and what happened when they stepped out of their traditional female roles to take an other identities. By considering the way in wich their presence has been erased from history, Toler reveals that woen have always fought -not in spite of being women, but because they are women.