Pre-Publication Review of Red Valkyries in Library Journal

Ghodsee packs a punch in her short volume focusing on five different Red Valkyries. Resistant to the label “feminist” because of its close association with the western liberal feminist agenda, Ghodsee explores her socialist women activists one by one, tracing their lives and work as they respond to some of the most significant Russian and world events of the 20th century. As an expert in her field, she deftly covers vast amounts of history, political theory, and complicated personal relationships in an accessible way for all levels of informed readers. She invokes a large body of research, which can be seen in the extensive notes section and the “suggestions for further reading” pages. But her prose is never too academic, and the little-known stories of the women are captivating. The Red Valkyries’ accomplishments, in everything from record-breaking sniper kills to the formation of several political institutions for women’s emancipation, help challenge narrow views of what it meant to empower women in the twentieth century. Ghodsee ends the book with nine overarching lessons to take from the women’s lives, which helps reframe their efforts for today’s activists. 

VERDICT A timely and fascinating volume for those interested in Russian and socialist history. 

Reviewed by Halie Kerns , Jun 01, 2022

A nice review in the weirdest of places... →

I honestly have to admit that I never in my life thought anything I wrote (or even co-wrote) would receive a positive review in The American Conservative : Helen Andrews, “Making Sense Of Red Nostalgia” July 13, 2021

Andrews clearly understood the message the of the book and appreciated our critique of the Clinton policies of the 1990s. About the only point where I disagree with is her is her characterization that this is somehow my book. It was fully co-authored with my wonderful colleague at Penn, Mitchell A. Orenstein, with the invaluable help of our research assistant, Nicholas Emery, who is now a Ph.D. student in Political Science at UCLA.

«Худшая форма рабства». Как капитализм испортил женщинам сексуальную жизнь

A review and excerpt of Почему у женщин при социализме секс лучше. Аргументы в пользу экономической независимости in Forbes Russia.

Review of Second World, Second Sex →

“[W]e ought to acknowledge the contradictions and complexities of the formerly socialist world, rather than shallowly disregarding it as a monolith of un-freedom. Second World, Second Sex challenges the conventional wisdom of three-wave feminist history by documenting the critical interventions made by these [socialist] women in service of a vision of women’s equality that was always already intersectional, and that refused to separate women’s issues from questions of neo-colonialism, racism, and economic re-distribution. Ghodsee’s book offers a helpful and instructive reminder of socialist feminism’s rich and global history of organization and action, a history that was created and fought for in large part by alliances of women from non-aligned and socialist countries during the Cold War, and whose memory is all too often erased from Western histories of the women’s movement during the “American century.””
— Steven Gotzler, Lateral 9.1 (2020).

Reviews, reviews everywhere!

The last week has been a whirlwind of reviews to coincide with the original publication date of my book in the US. Perhaps because of Michelle Obama’s memoir, quite a few books were pushed back a week and my new publication date is Tuesday, November 20th, just in time for people to read it before Thanksgiving dinner. It will make for many debates around the table, I am sure. So far the reviews have been very encouraging. Even the conservative Times of London said that parts of the book were “fascinating,” and that “This book is not as silly as its title suggests.” That’s high praise from a Tory paper!