Editor Amico worked with an impressive list of advisors and contributors, including well-known feminists Jill Johnston and Marilyn French. Among other topics are aging, patriarchy, sexual harassment, and women such as Clara Barton, Hildegard of Bingen, Anita Hill, Marie Antoinette, Golda Meir, Anna Pavlova, and Virginia Woolf. Approximately 170 of the entries treat individual women. There are some omissions that are disappointing. Not included are Jane Addams, Fanny Lou Harner, Ida B. Wells, and many others.
Bibliographic information consists of author, title, publisher, and date.
The essays provide useful perspective by discussing what each title contributes to scholarship on the subject or individual. The volume is intended as a guide to secondary literature, and primary-source material is not included. Children's literature is generally not included, nor are journal articles. Since a great deal of the work in women's studies is in journal form, a guide to the journal literature would also be helpful. An alphabetical and a thematic list of entries precede the main text.