David E. Jones (1) (1942–)

The History of Women Warriors from a World Civilization point of view: looks at ancient women warriors of Arabia, Africa, India, the Bristish Isles, Egypt, the Middle East and North America. The chapter on North America spends a great deal of time on Native American Women Warriors and female colonists who fight Indians in defense of their homes and family. Also includes Molly Pitcher, Margaret Corbin, Emily Geiger, Fanny Campbell (a privateer) and Lucy Brewer, whom the author assumes is authentic. Includes Sarah Borginis, Rose Greenhow, Belle Boyd, etc. Talks briefly about the WAC AAA experiment during World War II and contemporary servicewomen during Grenada and Panama and Operation Desert Storm. Book is footnoted.… (meer)

Generally, the idea of a race is to get to the finish line, not to see how far you can go beyond it.

The book opens with the observation that vervet monkeys, and some other primates, seem to have three very special, ingrained fears: they instinctively recognize, and have special calls to warn of, big cats (leopards), big birds (eagles), and snakes.

What happens if you take those three types of creatures and combine them? Mixing all the parts together produces a creature very like a dragon. Author David E. Jones observes that most human societies have folklore about a dragon-like creature, and suggests that it arose when the three great primate fears -- leopards, eagles, and snakes -- were simplified down into one super-threat. Which, rather than try to call a leo-eagle-snake, we call a dragon.

This is a very clever suggestion, but it's only a suggestion. It is not a verified fact. And yet, Jones, having spent a few dozen pages making this argument, then treats it as certain. No attempts to test the hypothesis, no attempts to see if it is predictive. He just takes it and runs.

The first couple of chapters, in which Jones presented his hypothesis, I found fascinating. The rest I found -- effectively devoid of content. It was a pain to read. The basic idea is worth further exploration. But this book is not the one to do it.… (meer)

Amazing that I really had no idea what an ancient, common phenomenon women in the military is. Entire all-female battalions, in modern Europe. Something in me is a little shocked by the idea, but my worldview will adapt.But the book itself was no more than a string of anecdotes. Some interesting and told in detail over a few pages, others given only a couple of lines. Rather tedious to read; I would have liked some analysis, statistics, drawing together of threads. And I wish his sources had been more accessible from the main text.… (meer)