31 Nonfiction Books for 31 Days of Women's History Month

A selection of nonfiction books chronicling women throughout history, their accomplishments, and their legacies in society today.

Updated January 11, 2024
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The light of days : the untold story of women resistance fighters in Hitler's ghettos
Batalion, Judith
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Also on the USA Today, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Globe and Mail, Publishers Weekly, and Indie bestseller lists. One of the most important stories of World War II, already optioned by Steven Spielberg for a major motion picture: a...
The Barbizon : the hotel that set women free
Bren, Paulina
A "captivating portrait" (The Wall Street Journal), both "poignant and intriguing" (The New Republic): from award-winning author Paulina Bren comes the remarkable history of New York's most famous residential hotel and the women who stayed there, including Grace Kelly, Sylvia...
Women in white coats : how the first women doctors changed the world of medicine
Campbell, Olivia
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! For fans of Hidden Figures and Radium Girls comes the remarkable story of three Victorian women who broke down barriers in the medical field to become the first women doctors, revolutionizing the way women receive health care. ...
Let's get physical : how women discovered exercise and reshaped the world
Friedman, Danielle
A captivating blend of reportage and personal narrative that explores the untold history of women's exercise culture--from jogging and Jazzercise to Jane Fonda--and how women have parlayed physical strength into other forms of power. For American women today, working out is as...
18 tiny deaths : the untold story of Frances Glessner Lee and the invention of modern forensics
Goldfarb, Bruce
A captivating blend of history, women in science, and true crime, 18 Tiny Deaths tells the story of how one woman changed the face of forensics forever. Frances Glessner Lee, born a socialite to a wealthy and influential Chicago family in the 1870s, was never meant to have a career, let...
Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
Shetterly, Margot Lee
The #1 New York Times bestseller The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space--a powerful, revelatory history essential to our understanding of race, discrimination, and achievement in...
The radium girls : the dark story of America's shining women
Moore, Kate
A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts Bestseller! "The glowing ghosts of the radium girls haunt us still." --NPR Books  Discover the gripping and inspiring true story of The Radium Girls, a groundbreaking work by acclaimed author Kate Moore....
The woman they could not silence : one woman, her incredible fight for freedom, and the men who tried to make her disappear
Moore, Kate (Writer and editor)
From the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Radium Girls comes another dark and dramatic but ultimately uplifting tale of a forgotten woman hero whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women's rights and exposed injustices that still...
Code girls : the true story of the American women who secretly broke codes in World War II
Mundy, Liza 1960-
In the tradition of Hidden Figures and The Girls of Atomic City, Code Girls is the amazing true story of the young American women who cracked German and Japanese military codes during World War II. More than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during...
The doctors Blackwell : how two pioneering sisters brought medicine to women--and women to medicine
Nimura, Janice P.
Elizabeth Blackwell believed from an early age that she was destined for a mission beyond the scope of "ordinary" womanhood. Though the world at first recoiled at the notion of a woman studying medicine, her intelligence and intensity ultimately won her the acceptance of the male medical...
The five : the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper
Rubenhold, Hallie
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction and of the Goodreads Choice Award for History & Biography The award-winning, best-selling book that changes the narrative of the "Ripper" murders forever Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Catherine, and...
Shine bright : a very personal history of black women in pop
Smith, Danyel
American pop music is arguably this country's greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country's founding. This is their surprising, heartbreaking, soaring story--from ...
My mother's war : the incredible true story of how a resistance fighter survived three concentration camps
Taylor, Eva
"A sad and beautiful book, shining a light on quiet heroism in dark times."-Lucy Adlington, New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmakers of Auschwitz The extraordinary story of Sabine Zuur, a beautiful, young Dutch resistance fighter who spent over two years in...
Heiresses : the lives of the million dollar babies
Thompson, Laura 1964-
New York Times bestselling author Laura Thompson returns with Heiresses, a fascinating look at the lives of heiresses throughout history and the often tragic truth beneath the gilded surface. Heiresses: surely they are among the luckiest women on earth. Are...
The agitators : three friends who fought for abolition and women's rights
Wickenden, Dorothy
An LA Times Best Book of the Year "Engrossing... examines the major events of the mid 19th century through the lives of three key figures in the abolitionist and women's rights movements." --Smithsonian From the executive editor of ...
She kills me : the true stories of history's deadliest women
Wright, Jennifer 1986-
A powerful collection of stories about women who murdered--for revenge, for love, and even for pleasure--rife with historical details that will have any true crime junkie on the edge of their seat In every tragic story, men are expected to be the killers. There are...
I am Malala : the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban
Yousafzai, Malala 1997-
A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE As seen on Netflix with David Letterman "I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday." When the Taliban took control of the Swat...
The girl explorers : the untold story of the globetrotting women who trekked, flew, and fought their way around the world
Zanglein, Jayne 1954-
Never tell a woman where she doesn't belong. In 1932, Roy Chapman Andrews, president of the men-only Explorers Club, boldly stated to hundreds of female students at Barnard College that "women are not adapted to exploration," and that women and exploration do not mix. He obviously didn...

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