I love reading book about historical feminists. ESPECIALLY ones I've never heard of. It's easy to know a little about a lot, but with feminism, you tend to know a lot about a very few. I'm always seeking out books with stories about women in history who made a major difference, but who never really get talked about.

And that's what this book should have been. With maybe four or five exceptions, I really knew very few women featured in here. And I was absolutely 100% ready to soak up all this knowledge about them.

What I got instead was a lot of information on how to make Broadsides. While these broadsides were absolutely beautiful, and full of Deep Meaning, that's...that's not what I wanted. So, maybe the error was on my part in thinking this was a book about the feminists as opposed to a book about the authors and their artistic process.

There is definitely an audience for this book, but it's certainly not me. I felt really let down by the blips we got on women who were bad asses of history.

Points for including Elizabeth Zimmerman, though. Knitting power.

A great mixture of biographical information, historical context, archival photos/memorabilia, and more. The feature of this book, though, is on the broadside art the authors made about each woman. While I found the process fascinating, I would have liked more focus on the "dead feminists" than the art.

This is a pretty fantastic book - for the art, for the typography, for the bevy of one-page broadsides that abound. Plus, the proceeds for the sale of these broadsides went to different charities. Proceeds of the sale of this book, too, are donated.

Obviously, I requested this book because it was about feminists, but the art was an excellent add.

This book describes several feminists of years’ past - many of which you’ve never even heard of. (To be fair, many <i>I’ve</i> never heard of, but since they’re awfully obscure, I bet there’s a ton you’ve never heard of, either!) They are from all over the world, of all ages, and not just from modern history! Quite a collection.

Some of the quotes were pretty fantastic, and ones I want to remember.

<i>Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles and see the world is moving.</i> -Elizabeth Cady Stanton (late 19th century)

<i>Reading is important - read between the lines. Don’t swallow everything.</i> -Gwendolyn Brooks

<i>There is nothing complicated about ordinary equality.</i> -Alice Paul

<i>To be human is to grow old.</i> -Sappho

<i>E onipa’a . . . i ka ‘imi na’auao (Be steadfast in the seeking of knowledge.)</i> -Lili’uokalani

Recommended for feminists, and for typographers! (If you’re both, it’s a double treat!)

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Sasquatch Books for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

I LOVED this book! I think my only complaint is the formatting for kindle made me feel I was losing some of the detail in the art and had me longing for a print copy. It is a wonderful combination of art in the form of broadsides and history in a celebration of fantastic women.

I highly recommend this to everyone, you don't need to be a feminist to appreciate the beauty, but if you are, well, trust me it is an empowering treat!

Dead Feminists: Historic Heroines in Living Color by Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring

This book is a collection of broadsides, the precursor to posters that has been used throughout history, created by Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring. O’Leary and Spring began collaborating in 2008 and since then have chosen different political issues and different women throughout history to create the Dead Feminists series. This book highlights this series, introducing readers to the different women, their beliefs and how those causes can be reflected now. They detail the different imagery used for the broadsides and why. O’Leary and Spring also highlight the current issue being addressed and describe where donations went when donations were made later in the series.

I found this to be a very diverse and interesting collection of women, with issues highlighting a wide range of very relevant topics. The broadsides are absolutely beautiful and I love that they detailed in the book how each were made and the different methods used. It’s obvious that O’Leary and Spring researched each woman and tried to highlight, as best they could, what each woman really stood for and reflected that in the broadside.

If you ever feel like you don't need feminism, read this book. The reason we have a voice today is because of the women who went before us! This book illuminates the groundbreaking, glass ceiling smashing, paradigm shifting badassery of a diverse group of feminists. And this is no ode to white feminism. Dead Feminists is all about that intersectional feminism! There are feminists from all races, creeds, and time periods. And most powerfully, anyone who reads this can learn that feminism is for everyone, not just women. These feminists fought for the disabled, the disenfranchised, and everyone discarded by society. They made huge waves in science, literature and art that still reverberate today. It's also illustrated GORGEOUSLY. Like this is something you invest in a hardcover for. This book is broken into easily digestible sections, just enough to read one before you fall asleep and dream of dead feminists.

We all know the history books are full of "dead white men" - so here's one from a different perspective, that of "dead feminists." It's based on a collection of small-batch letterpress "broadsides" (posters) highlighting women throughout history - yes, the famous "suffragettes" and figureheads of the women's movements, but also women who shattered societal norms for women of their day in other ways - as writers, entrepreneurs, scientists, entertainers, educators and more.

In addition to the biographies, this book is a "look behind the curtain" at the creation of the broadsides, both the artistic process and the symbolism contained within each one. And they are gorgeous!