Amazons Of Black Sparta

Download or read book Amazons of Black Sparta, 2nd Edition written by Stanley B. Alpern and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2011-04-11 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only thoroughly documented Amazons in world history are the women warriors of Dahomey, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Western African kingdom. Once dubbed a 'small black Sparta,' residents of Dahomey shared with the Spartans an intense militarism and sense of collectivism. Updated with a new preface by the author, Amazons of Black Sparta is the product of meticulous archival research and Alpern's gift for narrative. It will stand as the most comprehensive and accessible account of the woman warriors of Dahomey.

Download or read book Amazons of Black Sparta written by Stanley Bernard Alpern and published by Hurst & Company. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History is rife with tales of fighting women. More often than not, these stories prove more legend than history. Dating back to the Amazons of ancient Asia Minor, myths of fierce, autonomous women of martial excellence abound. And yet, the only thoroughly documented Amazons in world history are the women warriors of Dahomey, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Western African kingdom. Once dubbed a "small black Sparta," residents of Dahomey shared with the Spartans an intense militarism and sense of collectivism. Moreover, the women of both kingdoms prided themselves on bodies hardened from childhood by rigorous physical exercise. But Spartan women kept in shape to breed male warriors, Dahomean Amazons to kill them. Originally palace guards, the Amazons had evolved by the 1760s into professional troops armed mainly with muskets, machetes and clubs. Theoretically wives of the king and quartered in his palaces, they were sworn to celibacy on pain of death. In compensation they enjoyed a semi-sacred status and numerous privileges, including the right to own slaves. By the 1840s their numbers had grown to 6,000. The Amazons served under female officers and had their own bands, flags and insignia: they outdrilled, outshot and outfought men, became frontline troops and fought tenaciously and with great valour till the kingdom's defeat by France in 1892. The product of meticulous archival research, Amazons of Black Sparta is defined by Alpern's gift for narrative and will stand as the most comprehensive and accessible account of the woman warriors of Dahomey.

Download or read book Amazons of Black Sparta, 2nd Edition written by Stanley B. Alpern and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2011-04-11 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only thoroughly documented Amazons in world history are the women warriors of Dahomey, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Western African kingdom. Once dubbed a 'small black Sparta,' residents of Dahomey shared with the Spartans an intense militarism and sense of collectivism. Updated with a new preface by the author, Amazons of Black Sparta is the product of meticulous archival research and Alpern's gift for narrative. It will stand as the most comprehensive and accessible account of the woman warriors of Dahomey.

Download or read book Amazons of Black Sparta written by Stanley B. Alpern and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 1998-12-01 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History is rife with tales of fighting women. More often than not, these stories prove more legend than history. Dating back to the amazons of ancient Asia Minor, myths of fierce, autonomous women of martial excellence abound. And yet, the only thoroughly documented amazons in world history are the women warriors of Dahomy, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Western African kingdom. Once dubbed a "small black Sparta," residents of Dahomy shared with the Spartans an intense militarism and sense of collectivism. Moreover, the women of both kingdoms prided themselves on bodies hardened from childhood by rigorous physical exercise. But Spartan women kept in shape to breed male warriors, Dahomean amazons to kill them. Originally a praetorian guard, the Dahomeans developed into a force 6,000 strong and were granted semi-sacred status. They lusted for battle, fighting with fury and valor until the kingdom's final defeat by France in 1892. Stanley B. Alpern has chronicled this remarkable history in depth for the first time. The product of meticulous archival research, Amazons of Black Sparta is defined by Alpern's gift for narrative and will stand as the most comprehensive and accessible account of the woman warriors of Dahomy.

Download or read book Searching for the Amazons written by John Man and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-02-27 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the time of the ancient Greeks we have been fascinated by accounts of the Amazons, an elusive tribe of hard-fighting, horse-riding female warriors. Equal to men in battle, legends claimed they cut off their right breasts to improve their archery skills and routinely killed their male children to purify their ranks.For centuries people believed in their existence and attempted to trace their origins. Artists and poets celebrated their battles and wrote of Amazonia. Spanish explorers, carrying these tales to South America, thought they lived in the forests of the world’s greatest river, and named it after them. In the absence of evidence, we eventually reasoned away their existence, concluding that these powerful, sexually liberated female soldiers must have been the fantastical invention of Greek myth and storytelling. Until now.Following decades of new research and a series of groundbreaking archeological discoveries, we now know these powerful warrior queens did indeed exist. In Searching for the Amazons, John Man travels to the grasslands of Central Asia—from the edge of the ancient Greek world to the borderlands of China—to discover the truth about the truth about these women whose legend has resonated over the centuries.

Download or read book The Jasmine Years written by Johanna Maula and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2012-11 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Johanna Maula was only eight years old when her family mother, father, and four small girls moved from the snow-covered Finnish countryside to middle of the tropical heat of Nigeria. The Biafran war was raging, and the young girl saw many historical events unfolding that impacted her deeply and set the course for her life. Dr Maula later worked for the United Nations, the International Labour Organisation, and the African Development Bank. She travelled the length and breadth of Africa and saw tragedy and misery, but also the beginnings of growth and hope. In this memoir, she presents unique insights into the life of people in the rapidly changing Africa, from the street children in Lagos to Vodou priests in Benin; from destitute women of Ethiopia to presidents, ministers, and business leaders in these countries. Her story combines a seasoned social scientist's viewpoint with pertinent and pointed observations covering more than four decades of socio-cultural and economic developments in Africa. Dr Maula candidly recalls her work, her friends and neighbours, starting a family, and the ups and downs of raising an infant in Ethiopia and a moody teenager in the pre-revolutionary Tunisia. Through her experiences in Africa, Dr Maula also learned to look at her own native country with new eyes. Hilarious and tragic by turns, her story throughout bears great compassion and love for Africa and her beautiful and talented people. 5.0 out of 5 stars By Gelsomina This book was most varied and interesting. Detailed autobiographic account of life in Africa when the writer was a little girl, which I found very tender and humoristic. Very well documented, the writer continues her autobiography with her many enrichening experiences both in a professional capacity and on a personal level, living for different lengths of time in such diverse African countries as Benin, Ethiopia and Tunisia. Really smooth enjoyable reading

Download or read book The Lost History of the Amazons written by Gerhard Pollauer and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2010-10-22 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In SEARCH of the HISTORY of the AMAZONS. This book attempts to look at the phenomenon of Amazons from all sides, in order to shed more light on it and bring us close to its explanation. To fathom this legend, it is necessary first of all to refer to its earliest tradition that forms the foundation, without which the solution itself would be inconceivable. In the following, we look beyond the narrow confines of classic antiquity, to find where else in the world such Amazon-like myths exist. Our next step will be to moot different approaches to the question of Amazons. A central theme is the archeological research and our on-site investigation in those regions which are considered to have been the homelands of the Amazons, namely the land of the river Thermodon and Lemnos Island. According to this latest investigation, the lost history of the Amazons can be reconstructed.