Jill Lepore

A cultural history of Wonder Woman traces the character's creation and enduring popularity, drawing on interviews and archival research to reveal the pivotal role of feminism in shaping her seven-decade story. By the Pulitzer Prize-finalist author of New York Burning. 75,000 first printing.

The Secret History of Wonder Woman

Carol Bailey

If you are a fan of the Wonder Woman comic and want to get a brief idea of the creator then this might be an interesting although somewhat superficial read.

Ultimately, this is really a short biography of William Marston and his feminist ideals. I was hoping for a more in depth understanding of the actual creation of the Wonder Woman series and Marston's polyamorous relationship with his wife and Margaret Stanger. What was provided was fascinating but 46% of the book s footnotes, and you really need to read the footnotes to get more detail. So ultimately I was left a little disappointed. I would have given this 2.5 stars because of that.

Charlotte Rayfield

A wonderful and interesting book that spans almost every topic one can think of. Feminist movements, comic book characters, plural or polygamist marriages. Complicated but heartfelt, this book dusts off a family legacy that is unlike any before.

Ben Nathan

It's not very good. There's lots of interesting stuff, but I think she doesn't do the best job of putting it together well. Can't suggest it to people, but there are people that quite like it.

Bria

Lindsy Rice

Nora 

Jean A

Melody Izard

Corinne Falotico

Simran Kalkat

A riveting work of historical detection, revealing that the origins of one of the world’s most iconic Superheroes hides within it a fascinating family story — and a crucial history of twentieth-century feminism. Wonder Woman, created in 1941, is the most popular female superhero of all time. Aside from Superman and Batman, no superhero has lasted as long or commanded so vast and wildly passionate a following. Like every other superhero, Wonder Woman has a secret identity. Unlike every other superhero, she also has a secret history. Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore has uncovered an astonishing trove of documents, including the never-before-seen private papers of William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman’s creator. Beginning in his undergraduate years at Harvard, Marston was influenced by early suffragists and feminists, starting with Emmeline Pankhurst, who was banned from speaking on campus in 1911, when Marston was a freshman. In the 1920s, Marston and his wife, Sadie Elizabeth Holloway, brought into their home Olive Byrne, the niece of Margaret Sanger, one of the most influential feminists of the twentieth century. The Marston family story is a tale of drama, intrigue, and irony. In the 1930s, Marston and Byrne wrote a regular column for Family Circle celebrating conventional family life, even as they themselves pursued lives of extraordinary nonconformity. Marston, internationally known as an expert on truth — he invented the lie detector test — lived a life of secrets, only to spill them on the pages of Wonder Woman. The Secret History of Wonder Woman is a tour de force of intellectual and cultural history. Wonder Woman, Lepore argues, is the missing link in the history of the struggle for women’s rights — a chain of events that begins with the women’s suffrage campaigns of the early 1900s and ends with the troubled place of feminism a century later.

Kendra Jones

A riveting work of historical detection revealing that the origin of Wonder Woman, one of the world's most iconic superheroes, hides within it a fascinating family story--and a crucial history of twentieth-century feminism Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore has uncovered an astonishing trove of documents, including the never-before-seen private papers of William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman's creator. Beginning in his undergraduate years at Harvard, Marston was influenced by early suffragists and feminists, starting with Emmeline Pankhurst, who was banned from speaking on campus in 1911, when Marston was a freshman. In the 1920s, Marston and his wife, Sadie Elizabeth Holloway, brought into their home Olive Byrne, the niece of Margaret Sanger, one of the most influential feminists of the twentieth century. The Marston family story is a tale of drama, intrigue, and irony. In the 1930s, Marston and Byrne wrote a regular column for Family Circle celebrating conventional family life, even as they themselves pursued lives of extraordinary nonconformity. Marston, internationally known as an expert on truth--he invented the lie detector test--lived a life of secrets, only to spill them on the pages of Wonder Woman. The Secret History of Wonder Woman is a tour de force of intellectual and cultural history. Wonder Woman, Lepore argues, is the missing link in the history of the struggle for women's rights--a chain of events that begins with the women's suffrage campaigns of the early 1900s and ends with the troubled place of feminism a century later. This edition includes a new afterword with fresh revelations based on never before seen letters and photographs from the Marston family's papers. With 161 illustrations and 16 pages in full color

The Secret History of Wonder Woman

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