Women Who Won

by Ros Ball, Emmy Lupin (Illustrator)

Overview

Did you know that Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka was the first woman in the world to become a democratically elected prime minister? 

That Tina Anselmi of Italy was a wartime resistance fighter who became the first woman to serve as a cabinet minister? 

Or that Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi was the first woman to serve as a prime minister in Africa? 

It is high time these extraordinary women who helped shape our world became household names, and this book brings them at last to the fore.

Women Who Won is a celebration of 70 women from the last 100 years: politicians from around the globe who fought for election in a man’s world… and won. Beautifully illustrated by artist Emmy Lupin, it features well-known figures, including Kamala Harris, Benazir Bhutto, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Jacinda Ardern and Julia Gillard, alongside lesser-known women whose stories are ready to be heard:

• Shidzue Katō, one of the first women elected to the Diet of Japan

• Yulia Tymoshenko, the first woman prime minister of Ukraine

• Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the US Congress

• Peri-Khan Sofieva, the first democratically elected Muslim woman

• Ethel Blondin-Andrew, the first Indigenous woman elected to Canadian parliament

Women of the past, but also women of the present and future. Women who smashed the political glass ceiling. Women who fought to leave a positive legacy for future generations. Women who paved the way for girls of today to become women who won.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781800182523
Publisher:	Unbound
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	681,335
Product dimensions:	5.62(w) x 8.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ros Ball is an author and former BBC broadcast journalist, working for many years on politics in Westminster. In 2017 she published The Gender Agenda, a first-hand account of how boys and girls are treated differently. She currently works on equalities policy for women and girls. @rosball Emmy Lupin is a freelance illustrator from Nottingham, based in London. Her work is often female focused, with a powerful and positive stance. Expect styling to be decorative, using pastel colours and patterns but with an edge of attitude. Find her drinking coffee, obsessing over plants, and drawing on Instagram. @emmylupinstudio

Table of Contents

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir	Iceland
Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa	Samoa
Shirley Chisholm	USA
Margaret Thatcher	UK
Megawati Sukarnoputri	Indonesia
Sahle-Work Zewde	Ethiopia
Tina Anselmi	Italy
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga	Latvia
Sylvie Kinigi	Burundi
Miina Sillanpää	Finland
Joyce Banda	Malawi
Berta Pīpiņa	Latvia
Portia Simpson-Miller	Jamaica
Graça Machel	Mozambique
Leyla Zana	Turkey
Maureen Colquhoun	UK
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner	Argentina
Ella Koblo Gulama	Sierra Leone
Birtukan Mideksa	Ethiopia
Jadranka Kosor	Croatia
Isabel Ursula Teshea	Trinidad and Tobago
Golda Meir	Israel
Jeannette Rankin	USA
Gro Harlem Brundtland	Norway
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo	Portugal
Laura Chinchilla	Costa Rica
Iriaka Rātana	New Zealand
Marie Juchacz	Germany
Jahanara Shahnawaz	India
Eugenia Charles	Dominica
Dilma Rousseff	Brazil

Editorial Reviews

These profiles—two-page summaries of the lives and achievements of 70 women in the political realm—present an extensive and impressive collection of global leaders, many less well-known, from the 19th century to contemporary times. The geographical representation is broad...riveting." — Kirkus 

"Adults will also learn a great deal from this book, because many of these women may be unknown to most readers. It is refreshing to have women across the globe recognized. The beautiful illustrations make the book an even more interesting read. Ros Ball and Emmy Lupin should be commended and encouraged to work together, as the words and images compliment each other so well." — Youth Services Book Review

From the Publisher

2023-08-27
Introduces readers to women whose passion, perseverance, courage, and drive for learning are inspiring.

These profiles—two-page summaries of the lives and achievements of 70 women in the political realm—present an extensive and impressive collection of global leaders, many less well-known, from the 19th century to contemporary times. The geographical representation is broad, including Samoa, Iran, Burundi, Nepal, and Latvia. The political ideological spectrum is represented as well, as demonstrated by the U.K.’s Margaret Thatcher and the U.S.’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Though positive achievements are highlighted, flaws or controversies are not elided: for example, in the coverage of aspects of Yulia Tymoshenko’s time as prime minister of Ukraine, Corazon Aquino’s presidency of the Philippines, and Portia Simpson-Miller’s tenure as prime minister of Jamaica. The subjects are humanized through the inclusion of personal information, like childhood experiences and details about identity, such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and more. Ball emphasizes the women’s struggles, shows how they coped with adversity, and describes their stunning successes, both in politics and other fields. Many accounts are riveting. Each entry is preceded by a striking portrait and followed by a list of sources, most of them online encyclopedias and government or news websites. The graphics employ distinct and graceful outlines, with decorative but spare details and glowing, saturated colors. The portraits are attractively idealized, and the brief, efficient text is very readable.

Many “firsts” but doubtless not “lasts” celebrate women’s political advances. (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews