Includes bibliographical and references index.

1. Hunters, farmers and women of the stone age -- 2. Doctors, scribes and innkeepers: The women of the bronze age -- 3. Courtesans, poets and potters: The women of ancient greece -- 4. Merchants, property developers and moneylenders: The women of ancient rome -- 5. Brokers, concubines and wet-nurses: The women of the pax islamica -- 6. Inventors, weavers and spinners: The women of china's golden age -- 7. Dairy maids, brewers and shopkeepers: The women of the european renaissance -- 8. Scientists, bankers and writers: women of the creative age -- 9. Factory hands, miners and maids: The women of the industrial age -- 10. Arms dealers, pirates and sex workers: Women in the era of colonisation -- 11. Typists, teachers and engineers: Women in the twentieth century -- 12. Creatives, carers and clean-tech innovators: Women in the twenty-first century.