"Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673) is a fascinating figure who is getting increasing attention by historians of philosophy these days, and for good reason. . . . She’s an interesting advocate of a vitalist tradition emphasizing the inherent activity of matter, as well as its inherent perceptive faculties. She’s also the perfect character to open students (and their teachers) up to a different seventeenth century, and a different cast of philosophical characters. This is an ideal book to use in the classroom. The Philosophical Letters (1664) gives us Cavendish’s view of what was interesting and important in the philosophical world at that moment, a view of philosophy as it was at the time by an engaged participant. There are few documents like it in the history of philosophy. Deborah Boyle’s Introduction provides a very accessible summary of Cavendish’s natural philosophy, as well as good introductions to the other figures that Cavendish discusses in the book. Boyle’s annotations are not extensive, but they are a great help in guiding the student toward an informed reading of the texts." —Daniel Garber, Princeton University

"Margaret Cavendish's philosophical work is at last taking its rightful place in the history of seventeenth-century thought, but her writings are so voluminous and wide-ranging that introducing her work to students has been difficult—at least until this volume came along. This carefully edited abridgment of Observations upon Experimental Philosophy will be indispensable for making Cavendish's fascinating ideas accessible to students. Marshall's Introduction provides a helpful overview of themes in Cavendish's natural philosophy, and the footnotes contain useful background information about some of the texts and philosophers that Cavendish mentions. The additional selections from Descartes, Hobbes, Boyle, and Hooke also help contextualize Cavendish's views." —Deborah Boyle, College of Charleston

Queen Victoria was an avid reader of her works and Charles Darwin said of her, "...one ought not to look at her as a woman." The novelist Margaret Oliphant said "as a born lecturer and politician she [Martineau] was less distinctively affected by her sex than perhaps any other, male or female, of her generation. Famed for her writing, sharp intellect, and wonderful wit, Harriet Martineau was a friend or acquaintance of nearly every English luminary of the mid-nineteenth century. Her writing included fiction but was primarily essays on all the great issues of her day. In this witty autobiography, she expounds on travel, America, slavery, friends, being a writer, fame, her failing health, and mesmerism. She never fails to entertain! For the first time ever, this long-out-of-print book is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.

"Woman, like man, should be freely permitted to do whatever she can do well." So said Frances E. Willard, who lived her life in the firm belief of this principle and who was instrumental in the passage of two amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A passionate advocate for women's rights, prohibition, and underprivileged people, she was devoted to making federal aid to education, free school lunches, unions, the eight-hour work day, work relief for the poor, municipal sanitation and boards of health, national transportation, anti-rape laws, and protections against child abuse a reality. This long-forgotten and out-of-print book is available for the first time for e-readers. In Willard's own words she describes her life as an educator, temperance reformer, and suffragist. She was an educator and later president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union She traveled extensively and even climbed the Great Pyramid in Egypt. Her sexual orientation is still debated today but she states in this volume: "The loves of women for each other grow more numerous each day and I have pondered much why these things were. That so little should be said about them surprises me, for they are everywhere... In these days when any capable and careful woman can honorably earn her own support, there is no village that has not its examples of 'two hearts in counsel,' both of which are feminine." She had many passionate attachments to other women and she discusses this in her book. Willard was the first woman whose statue was included in the Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol building. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.