This volume provides readers with an overview of women's role and place in Western Europe from the beginning of the eighteenth century, with essays covering the key themes in women's history.

Deborah Simonton is Associate Professor of British History at the University of Southern Denmark and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Her publications include The Routledge History of Women in Modern Europe (2006), A History of European Women's Work (1998), co-editor of Gender in Scottish History (2006).

Overture Part 1: Rights of Man and Duties of Woman. Prelude: Women's Identity in Eighteenth-century Culture. Timeline. 1. Intimate Lives: Self, Sex and Family 2. Community Spaces 3. Wider Worlds: Gendering the Enlightenment Intermezzo: The Revolutionary Era. Timeline. Part 2: Domesticity and Industrialism Prelude: The Legacy of the Enlightenment. Timeline. 4. Intimate Worlds: Our Mothers' Daughters 5. Community Spaces: Labour, Leisure and Consumption 6. Shaping wider worlds Intermezzo: La Belle Époque or Fin de Siècle? Timeline. Part 3: Modern Times Prelude: Carrying Linda's Stones. Timeline. 7. Intimacy and Independence 8. The Transitional Community 9. Women Go Public Coda: Gender, skill and Identity. Further reading