Every so often, I read a non-fiction book that entertains me while it educates. America’s Women by Gail Collins was one of those. It’s a basic portrait of women’s lives from pre-colonial times to the present. Yes, she highlights the women who made names for themselves — Elizabeth Stanton, Abigial Adams, Annie Oakly, Eleanor Roosevelt — but this book is so much more than that. It’s a view of what life was like for a Puritan woman, or a Victorian woman, or a slave woman, or an immigrant woman. It made me very glad that I didn’t give birth in the early 19th Century. I admired those who endured hardships, who tried to make the world a better place. It reminded me of the need to keep journals and correspondence with other women. Most of all it made me proud to be a woman. An excellent book.