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Servants of the Dynasty

Palace Women in World History

Anne Walthall editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:University of California Press

Published:8th Jul '08

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Servants of the Dynasty cover

Mothers, wives, concubines, entertainers, attendants, officials, maids, drudges. By offering the first comparative view of the women who lived, worked, and served in royal courts around the globe, this work opens a new perspective on the monarchies that have dominated much of human history. Written by leading historians, anthropologists, and archeologists, these lively essays take us from Mayan states to twentieth-century Benin in Nigeria, to the palace of Japanese Shoguns, the Chinese Imperial courts, eighteenth-century Versailles, Mughal India, and beyond. Together they investigate how women's roles differed, how their roles changed over time, and how their histories can illuminate the structures of power and societies in which they lived. This work also furthers our understanding of how royal courts, created to project the authority of male rulers, maintained themselves through the reproductive and productive powers of women.

"This expansive collection... affords the first comprehensive review of the women who served in royal courts and palaces around the world, and thereby offers a welcome correction to our androcentric understanding of monarchies." The China Beat Blog "Excellent." -- M. E. Wiesner Choice

ISBN: 9780520254442

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 25mm

Weight: 635g

400 pages