Superwomen

Albert Payson TerhuneProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 361K words
Chapters: 37

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Superwomen by Albert Payson TerhuneAuthor: Terhune, Albert Payson, 1872-1942,Language: English, Class: CT: History: Biography, Release Date: Apr 1, 2012

Editor's review

Superwomen is a biographical work by the American author Albert Payson Terhune, classified under history and biography. The title points to a series of remarkable women, and the author sketches their experiences and characters in an accessible style that bears the clear imprint of early twentieth-century popular biography: strong on storytelling and anecdote, plain and easy to read. For readers curious about how the English-speaking world wrote about women's achievements and shaped the image of the "superwoman" in that period, the book offers a useful text for observation. It is not a systematic study of women's history but a collection of popular character sketches; as you read, pay attention to the author's criteria for selecting subjects, the approving or disapproving tendencies of his narration, and the gender attitudes of the era reflected therein. As a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg, it is easily accessible and suitable as supplementary reading for understanding the style of early women's biography, though it should be read with a critical eye.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in biographies of women
Those studying early women's writing and gender attitudes
Learners seeking to build experience reading English biography
Readers who enjoy popular historical character stories

Not a good fit for

Women's history researchers requiring rigorous scholarly verification
Readers expecting a contemporary gender-studies theoretical framework
Readers who prefer fiction and strongly plotted narratives

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents to see which women the author selected
After each piece, briefly note the subject and the author's evaluative tendencies
Read against the social background of the early twentieth century to understand the gender attitudes in the book
Read alongside contemporary women's biographies to compare approaches

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a systematic study of women's history?

No. It is closer to popular character sketches or a collection of popular biographies, focused on telling experiences and anecdotes rather than providing systematic historical verification or theoretical analysis. For academic research, treat it as a period text and supplementary material rather than a core reference.

Are the figures in the book real historical people?

Judging from the title and classification, the work portrays remarkable women and belongs to biographical writing. Readers should verify the specific figures and historical details against relevant sources. Distinguish the author's narrative embellishment from verifiable fact, and do not take every description in the book as settled fact.

How difficult is the English?

The overall style is popular biography, with relatively plain sentences, but the book was written early and some vocabulary and expressions carry period features. Readers with intermediate English can attempt it; for unfamiliar words, use context rather than looking up every word, and focus on following the characters' stories.

Comments

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About the author

Albert Payson Terhune Author · American · 1872–1942

Albert Payson Terhune (1872–1942), an American novelist and short-story writer, was born in Newark, New Jersey, and died near Pompton Lakes on February 18, 1942. A graduate of Columbia University, he worked as a reporter for the New York Evening World. He rose to fame in 1919 with Lad: A Dog and went on to write more than twenty dog-themed novels, while breeding prize-winning collies at Sunnybank. His works often feature collies as protagonists and also include mystery and popular fiction. Seven of his titles are held in this collection, including Further Adventures of Lad, Buff: A Collie, and Other Dog-Stories, and Black Caesar's Clan: A Florida Mystery Story; they are commonly classified under inspirational growth. His writing draws on firsthand experience with dogs and is sincere in tone, combining storytelling with emotional appeal. Public information on the details of his life is limited.