Book of the City of Ladies and Other Writings

"I am thrilled with the quality of this volume. Translator Hardy has created a splendid modern translation of Christine’s difficult French, and editors Bourgault and Kingston offer readers an outstandingly comprehensive and helpful introduction. The notes and other critical apparatus have also been judiciously crafted. I can’t think of any other single edition of Christine’s work that offers readers such a concise point of entry to women’s history, late-medieval political thought, and for that matter the turmoil, both economic and political, in fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century France."
—Sarah Gwyneth Ross, Boston College

"This new English translation of Christine de Pizan's Cité des dames is accompanied by selections from her Advision Cristine (Christine's Vision), Corps de Policie (Book of the Body Politic) and Lamentation sur les maux de la France (Lamentation on France's Ills), all of which are a pleasure to read in Ineke Hardy's renderings. In a stimulating introductory essay, editors Sophie Bourgault and Rebecca Kingston argue that the Cité, a work generally read for its defense of women, also makes 'a worthy contribution' to 'traditions of political reflection' and to 'philosophical debates about the nature of the virtues and their place in the well lived life' (p. xviii). That welcome orientation takes us further into understanding the work of this brilliant fifteenth-century writer."
—Thelma Fenster, Fordham University, in Modern Language Review

"The quality of the translator’s work is indisputable—the text reads fluidly and is infused with energy, combining overall adherence to the original and readability for the modern audience. It is vibrant yet with sufficient gravitas to do the text justice. 
    "The volume is a useful resource for readers at all levels. It is a welcome addition to the ever-expanding world of Christine studies, in which political thought and theory have grown more prominent of late. . . . This accessible, information-packed, and moderately priced book will have its place on the shelves of students and scholars of Christine and those interested in political theory and the development of western political thought.”
—Geri L. Smith, University of Central Florida, in Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature
"Hackett's new edition of The Book of the City of Ladies and Other Writings . . . features the most readable and engaging translation of the work on the American market today. The volume is an important contribution to Hackett's collection of philosophical works and will make teaching Christine as part of the canon of political science, ethics, and gender studies much easier than ever before."
—Jennifer Hockenberry, St. Norbert College, in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy