This is a comprehensive account of the worldwide female martial heritage. The book contains stories of women leaders, soldiers, pirates, outlaws, terrorists and cavalry leaders. From the legendary Amazon ride through Ancient Greece to the female Sandinistas' final offensive to today, women have served in the ranks, and sometimes even formed their own battalions. They have shown the same bravery, shed the same blood, and experienced the same brutality. This study takes readers on a tour of history and around the world to uncover an unrecognized yet persistent pattern of women as warriors. It challenges the notion that only men are capable of fighting or leading in battle, citing numerous examples of women who waged war as ferociously and planned attacks as skilfully as men. The book is a provocative commentary on the nature of gender, on the power of the warrior image and on its source in history - a history that women can also claim as theirs.