Elizabeth Cobbs

This passionate and inspiring book by the New York Times bestselling author of The Hello Girls shows us that the quest for women's rights is deeply entwined with the founding story of the United States. American women have been fighting for their rights ever since the Revolution. Sometimes, their fiercest battles were at home. Drawing on stories of women rich and poor, famous and obscure, religious and progressive, and from all backgrounds and regions of the country, Fearless Women shows that the women's movement has never been an exclusive club. When America became a nation, a woman had no legal existence beyond her husband. If he abused her, she couldn't leave without abandoning her children. Abigail Adams tried to change this, reminding her husband, John, to "remember the ladies" when he wrote the Constitution. The first hard-won right was to education. Later, impassioned teachers and abolitionists, like Angelica Grimk� and Susan B. Anthony, fired by their faith, campaigned for the right to speak in public, petition the government, and own property. Some devoted their lives to the cause, but millions more pressed their demands far from the spotlight, insisting on their right to sit on a jury, vote, control the timing of their pregnancies, and make a living. They faced fierce opposition. Elizabeth Cobbs gives voice to fearless women on both sides of the debate, some of whom thought of themselves as patriots, while others believed that campaigns for equality spelled ruin. Fearless Women tells the story of women who dared to take their destiny into their own hands--feminists and antifeminists, activists and homemakers, victims of abuse and pathbreaking professionals--and carried the country with them.

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Revolution, and featuring a cast of iconic characters such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the Marquis de Lafayette, The Hamilton Affair tells the sweeping, tumultuous, true love story of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, from tremulous beginning to bittersweet ending—his at a dueling ground on the shores of the Hudson River, hers more than half a century later after a brave, successful life. Hamilton was a bastard son, raised on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. He went to America to pursue his education. Along the way he became one of the American Revolution’s most dashing—and unlikely—heroes. Adored by Washington, hated by Jefferson, Hamilton was a lightning rod: the most controversial leader of the American Revolution. She was the well-to-do daughter of one of New York’s most exalted families—feisty, adventurous, and loyal to a fault. When she met Alexander, she fell head over heels. She pursued him despite his illegitimacy, and loved him despite his infidelity. In 1816 (two centuries ago), she shamed Congress into supporting his seven orphaned children. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton started New York’s first orphanage. The only “founding mother” to truly embrace public service, she raised 160 children in addition to her own. With its flawless writing, brilliantly drawn characters, and epic scope, The Hamilton Affair will take its place among the greatest novels of American history.