New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2014.
xiv, 410 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 25 cm.
This is an amazing book of history, culture, and biography. Jill Lepore has used her research into the origins of the Wonder Woman comic character to present a rich history of US feminism, bohemianism, pop culture and alternative lifestyles.
Lepore's history has at it's heart, the creator of Wonder Woman, William Marston - scholar, psychologist, pro-feminist, huckster, man of secrets and passions. The book begins with the early US feminist struggles for suffrage and birth control and brings the story up to the present. We find out in the course of the book that the people involved in Wonder Woman's origins include the famous feminist, Margaret Sanger - and that Marston has legitimate claims to the invention of the "lie detector."
The book is a personal history of Marston the two women who lived with him most of their lives and who had children with him, a history of the phenomenal rise of comic books in the US [and the "moral" backlash against them], a glimpse into the period of WWI, WWII, and - of course - a history of the the US feminist movement in the 20th century. There is a lot in this well-researched book.
I'd recommend this book for any student interested in the history of comic books, interested in the women's rights movement in the US, or interested in 20th century US history and culture. The main drawback for this book is that it's kind of long for a high school history book - but with it's index, it would serve well for any research projects.
