What great events have shaped women's lives in the twentieth century and enabled them to step with confidence and optimism into the next millennium? A Century of Women: The Most Influential Events in Twentieth-Century Women's History is a thoughtful and provocative look back at the most significant events in the history of women over the past one hundred years. Decade by decade the author profiles the critical advances in labor, social and political reform, and the cultural movements that have so profoundly affected women. Each event and its influence is discussed in detail, and the historical context is explored. Here is a sampling:

1900-1909 Kansas prohibitionist Carry Nation began hatcheting saloons.

1910-1919 The first birth-control clinic opened in Brooklyn, New York -- and was shut down by police ten days later.

1920-1929 The nineteenth amendment gained women the right to vote. The first Miss America, Margaret Gorman, was crowned.

1930-1939 Margaret Mitchell published Gone With the Wind.

1940-1949 World War II sent women into the work force on the home front.

1950-1959 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harries debuted; the first TV sitcom to show women as happy homemakers.

1960-1969 The birth control pill was approved by the FDA. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan was published.

1970-1979 Title IX prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender in federally funded programs. Abortion was legalized.

1980-1989 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sexual harassment was discrimination and a violation of federal law.

1990-1999 The Citadel and VMI opened their doors to women for the first time.

Essential reading for students and others interested in women's history,this book provides positive affirmation that the twentieth century has truly been a century of women.