19th Century Female Explorers

Author: Caroline Roope

c 1800 to c 1900

Published on 30 November 2023 by Pen & Sword Books Ltd (Pen & Sword History) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 224 pages, 32 mono illustrations
164 x 241 x 29mm | 506g

As any historian will testify, a nineteenth-century woman's place was very much at home. Or was it? For a lucky (and plucky) few, who had a little determination, and the ability to withstand lice infestations, climbing mountains in corsets, rascally guides and occasional certain death - as well as the raised eyebrows of the society they left behind - then the world really was their oyster.

In this lively re-telling of twenty-two extraordinary ladies who did just that, Caroline Roope invites you to journey to the further corners of the earth along with them. From humble missionary Annie Royle Taylor, who knew God would keep her safe, to the haughty aristocrat, Lady Hester Stanhope who defied convention and dressed as a Turkish man including pistol, knife and turban, their collective voices still resonate hundreds of years later. Drawing on their original accounts and archival sources, this expertly researched book brings to light a wealth of stories that are full of grit (sometimes literally), courage, and just enough humour to wish we'd been there with them on their adventures on the other side of the horizon.

So, pack a suitcase, along with a 'good thick skirt' a la Mary Kingsley, and prepare to go beyond the garden gate...