much and it made me look at feminism with different eyes. I was particularly impressed with how Margaret Walters went right back into history to trace feminism's beginnings and progress up to the present day. The book remained vital and interesting at all times and never veered into dense academic waffle like some of the Very Short Introductions can. Added to that, i really enjoyed Walter's writing style - a key aspect i feel in making these short introductions attractive to the general reader. This is a small hand sized book of about 150 pages which gives a brief introduction to feminism. A lot of people today when asked to think of feminism picture the feminism of the 60's and 70's. This period of feminsim has been termed second wave feminism and is covered only briefly in this book. The sole chapter functions as a kind of bibliography. Much of the book is concerned with the time leading up to this period. This book is a well written dispassionate account of an interesting subject. I think you will enjoy this book even if you think, as I do, that the laws passed in the name feminism have created tension and anxiety between the sexes and have made women (and men) more unhappy and insecure than ever before. There are a quite a few good illustrations and photos too, which is an added bonus. Very Short Introductions are seldom short, but often brief. However this is a perfect example of how