Explores China's most famous women warriors and wartime spies, shedding new light on the relationship between gender and militarisation.

Louise Edwards is Professor of Chinese History and Asian Studies Convener at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. She publishes on women and gender in China and Asia. Her most recent sole-authored book is Gender, Politics and Democracy: Women's Suffrage in China (2008). She is also currently President of the Asian Studies Association of Australia.

1. Women warriors and wartime spies of China; 2. The archetypal woman warrior, Hua Mulan: militarising filial piety; 3. Qiu Jin: transitioning from traditional swordswoman to feminist warrior; 4. Xie Bingying opening public spaces to women - fighting patriarchy and fighting militarists; 5. Aisin Gioro Xianyu: 'Joan of Arc of the Orient' or 'Mata Hari of the East'?; 6. Guerrilla resistance leader, Zhao Yiman: warrior teacher and sacrificing CCP mother; 7. Negotiating sexual virtue: the glamorous honey-trap spy, Zheng Pingru; 8. Ding Ling and Zhenzhen: female chastity and good communist governance; 9. Mobilising and militarising rural China through the girl martyr, Liu Hulan; 10. Women warriors and wartime spies as tools for 'total militarisation': The Red Detachment of Women; Bibliography; Index.