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  • A Brief History of Misogyny: the World's Oldest Prejudice

  • Brief Histories
  • By: Jack Holland
  • Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
  • Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (148 ratings)

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A Brief History of Misogyny: the World's Oldest Prejudice

By: Jack Holland
Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
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Summary

In this compelling, powerful book, highly respected writer and commentator Jack Holland sets out to answer a daunting question: How do you explain the oppression and brutalization of half the world's population by the other half, throughout history? The result takes the listener on an eye-opening journey through centuries, continents, and civilizations as it looks at both historical and contemporary attitudes to women.

Encompassing the Church, witch hunts, sexual theory, Nazism and pro-life campaigners, we arrive at today's developing world, where women are increasingly and disproportionately at risk because of radicalised religious belief, famine, war and disease. Well-informed and researched, highly readable and thought-provoking, this is no outmoded feminist polemic: It's a refreshingly straightforward investigation into an ancient, pervasive, and enduring injustice. It deals with the fundamentals of human existence - sex, love, violence - that have shaped the lives of humans throughout history.

The answer? It's time to recognize that the treatment of women amounts to nothing less than an abuse of human rights on an unthinkable scale. A Brief History of Misogyny is an important and timely book that will make a long-lasting contribution to the efforts to improve those rights throughout the world.

Jack Holland was a highly respected author and journalist known particularly for his commentary about Northern Irish politics. He grew up in Belfast (where he was taught by Seamus Heaney) and worked with Jeremy Paxman and other outstanding journalists at BBC Belfast during a period of seminal current affairs programming. Jack published four novels and seven works of non-fiction, most of the latter having to do with politics and terrorism in Northern Ireland, including the best-selling Phoenix. Sadly, Jack died of cancer in 2004, just after the manuscript of Misogyny had been delivered and accepted by his US publisher. On his death, his family received letters of respect from statesmen including Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton, who had come to rely on his balanced analysis of Irish politics.

©2013 Jack Holland (P)2013 Audible Ltd
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Critic reviews

"Jack Holland's Misogyny, an invaluable addition...meticuously researched and briskly related." ( Sunday Times,)

What listeners say about A Brief History of Misogyny: the World's Oldest Prejudice

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    5 out of 5 stars

Everyone should read or listen to this

A fantastic history of the most universal prejudice, that explains why misogyny is so deeply unfounded on anything even remotely sensible. My deepest condolences to the daughter of the author (who wrote the introduction), who lost a wonderful man when her father died. Thanks are due to him for writing this book.

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Excellent! Should be required reading in schools!

incredibly well researched and very accessible. Scarily, many of the ideas abd even laws in this book have made a comeback since it's publication making it incredibly relevent at present. There is much to be learned from this comprehensive history. Highly recommend!

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Taking the long view.

I find that just about everything can be understood best when it is set in its historical context. This book provides an accessible, readable and concise study of a subject that is so central in its importance to human life.

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Excellent

Excellent book that everyone should read. However it’s terrifying and deeply sad to read. Very informative and enlightening

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Exceedingly complex, exceedingly simple

This is a book everyone should read but I know few actually will. The author does a great job at outlining the origins and some of the consequences of misogyny. As a Christian reader I don’t agree 100% with his conclusions but that wouldn’t stop me recommending the book

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Very thought provoking

I am so glad that I was born when I was and where I was. I thought I knew a lot about sexism, but this made me realise just how embedded it is in the worlds history of human kind.

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    5 out of 5 stars

compulsory read.

What did you like most about A Brief History of Misogyny?

it brought to light the monstrous injustices woman have suffered over the last 2500 years

What did you like best about this story?

i liked that despite being relatively well read. i was unaware of most of these facts

What about Cameron Stewart’s performance did you like?

clear and intelligent narration

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    3 out of 5 stars

An interesting take on the subject

But poorly edited. Repetitive in parts and some words overused to the point of being annoying (I never want to hear ‘dualistic’ again).

The book is well researched though and has raised my awareness of misogyny in a variety of circumstances. I found the early historical parts particularly interesting.

Despite this I couldn’t help but feel that many assumptions had been made and perhaps some examples were labelled misogynistic when perhaps that wasn’t the root cause.

It’s also worth being aware that examples of misogyny throughout history and up to present day are brutal at times and not for the faint hearted.

I’m still glad I listened and would recommend this informative book.

Very well read by the narrator.

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2 people found this helpful

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Common Sense Feminism

In a modern liberal world that seems to be dominated by pseudo-intellectual feminists determined to wage war on everything from Hillary Clinton not winning the presidency to the literal spelling of the word 'women,' this book strikes a profound blow to the heart of the matter. It is a sublime presentation of the objective truth of misogyny that refuses to present easy ways out for women or men. It is an incredibly refreshing take on the seriousness of female oppression focusing much more on the trauma of clitorodectomy than the relative triviality of catcalling.

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Excellent, although deeply upsetting

A really important book. Very interesting and engaging, although deeply upsetting. should be read by men and women.

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2 people found this helpful