Recommendations

VINTAGE list of great non-fiction by women

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Discover our VINTAGE experts, they are the leaders, authorities, game changers, thought provokers, observers and story tellers, and they’re all women. 

Medicine

Direct Red
Direct Red
Gabriel Weston
The Language of Kindness
The Language of Kindness
Christie Watson
Mother Ship
Mother Ship
Francesca Segal
It's All in Your Head
It's All in Your Head
Suzanne O'Sullivan

Memoir

Lowborn
Lowborn
Kerry Hudson
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
Jeanette Winterson
Rosie
Rosie
Rose Tremain
Character Breakdown
Character Breakdown
Zawe Ashton

Philosophy

At The Existentialist Café
At The Existentialist Café
Sarah Bakewell
Bluets
Bluets
Maggie Nelson
Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals
Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals
Iris Murdoch
Shaking A Leg
Shaking A Leg
Angela Carter

Exploring the facts

Invisible Women
Invisible Women
Caroline Criado Perez
Misjustice
Misjustice
Helena Kennedy
The Gendered Brain
The Gendered Brain
Gina Rippon
Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism
Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism
Kristen Ghodsee

Life stories

On Chapel Sands
On Chapel Sands
Laura Cumming
This Is Just My Face
This Is Just My Face
Gabourey Sidibe
Dadland
Dadland
Keggie Carew
Thin Paths
Thin Paths
Julia Blackburn

Writing our cities

West of Eden
West of Eden
Jean Stein
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Jane Jacobs
Flaneuse
Flaneuse
Lauren Elkin
Monuments And Maidens
Monuments And Maidens
Marina Warner

Feminism

More Orgasms Please
More Orgasms Please
The Hotbed Collective
The Second Sex
The Second Sex
Simone de Beauvoir
The Beauty Myth
The Beauty Myth
Naomi Wolf
Backlash
Backlash
Susan Faludi

History

Dressed
Dressed
Shahidha Bari
Aristotle’s Way
Aristotle’s Way
Edith Hall
The Button Box
The Button Box
Lynn Knight
Under Another Sky
Under Another Sky
Charlotte Higgins

Natural world

Adventures in the Anthropocene
Adventures in the Anthropocene
Gaia Vince
The Orchid Thief
The Orchid Thief
Susan Orlean
H is for Hawk
H is for Hawk
Helen Macdonald
The Magnetic North
The Magnetic North
Sara Wheeler

Women in history

Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Nancy Mitford
Noble Savages
Noble Savages
Sarah Watling
L.E.L
L.E.L
Lucasta Miller
Tastes of Honey
Tastes of Honey
Selina Todd

Groundbreaking women

My Own Story
My Own Story
Emmeline Pankhurst
Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi
Jung Chang
A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas (Vintage Classics Woolf Series)
A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas (Vintage Classics Woolf Series)
Virginia Woolf
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Mary Wollstonecraft

In a man's world

Our Women on the Ground
Our Women on the Ground
Zahra Hankir
In Extremis
In Extremis
Lindsey Hilsum
Notes From the Blockade
Notes From the Blockade
Lydia Ginzburg

Trailblazers

How to Eat
How to Eat
Nigella Lawson
Mouth Full of Blood
Mouth Full of Blood
Toni Morrison
The Lost Art of Scripture
The Lost Art of Scripture
Karen Armstrong
Brit(ish)
Brit(ish)
Afua Hirsch

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Where to start reading Iris Murdoch's books