The warrior queens

In this panoramic work of history, Fraser looks at women who led armies, empires and rebellions: Cleopatra, Tamara of Georgia, Isabella of Spain, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, Jinga Mbandi of Angola, the Rani of Jhansi, and the 20th-century "iron ladies" Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir and Indira Gandhi, among others. Her touchstone is Boadicea, the first-century Briton who led 120,000 compatriots in a revolt that temporarily shook the Roman hold on her country. With her as a vibrant centerpiece, Fraser brings forward a constellation of 17 women who, through accidents of fate or descent, or…