11 History Books That Every Woman Should Read

All too often, the lives of women get left out of school textbooks. To learn about some of the most influential women from the past, you have to seek it out yourself — and it's not always easy to find. With this in mind, we decided to make things a little easier by putting together a list of history books about women by women that will offer a much needed history lesson.

These books cover feminist history and queer history. There are books about women who changed science forever (looking at you, Henrietta Lacks) and collections of essays by Roxane Gay and political activist Angela Davis that grapple with pop culture's effect on social change.

Some of these books delve deep into the past, like the social history of female friendship dating all the way back to the Bible. While others tackle more recent history, like Chanel Miller's Know My Name: A Memoir, which reckons with rape culture in the age of #MeToo. We bet that a lot of these books will introduce you to someone you've never heard of before.