'Capturing the experience of the lives of thousands of convicts, pioneers and Victorian and 20th century women, this is a history of Australian women from 1788 to today, and features hundreds of vignettes about the real lives of ordinary and famous women across the centuries. While famous women get a brief mention, this is mainly the story of the rest of us. It contains humour and despair, tragedy and considerable achievements, many of them unsung until now. The book is enlivened with brief and often funny stories of individual women's hopes and experiences, while a series of 'snapshots' reminds us of changes in important aspects of life, from fashion to education, from cooking to health'. (National Bibliographic Database)