Who Cooked the Last Supper?: The Women's History of the World
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- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Rosalind Miles
- ISBN：0609806955
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Summary
Men dominate history because they write it。 Women’s vital part in the shaping of the world has been consistently undervalued or ignored。 Rosalind Miles now offers a fundamental reappraisal that sets the record straight。 Stunning in its scope and originality， The Women’s History of the World challenges all previous world histories and shatters cherished illusions on every page。
Starting with women in pre-history the author looks beyond the myth of ‘Man the Hunter’ to reveal women’s central role in the survival and evolution of the human race。 She follows their progress from the days when God was a woman through to the triumphs of the Amazons and Assyrian war queens: she looks at the rise of organised religion and the growing oppression of women: she charts the long slow struggle for women’s rights culminating in the twentieth century women’s movements: and finally she presents a vision of women breaking free。
This brilliant and absorbing book turns the spotlight on the hidden side of history to present a fascinating new view of the world， overturning our preconceptions to restore women to their rightful place at the centre of the worldwide story of revolution， empire， war and peace。
Spiced with tales of individual women who have shaped history， celebrating the work and lives of the unsung female millions， distinguished by a wealth of research， The Women’s History of the World redefines the concept of historical reality。
Starting with women in pre-history the author looks beyond the myth of ‘Man the Hunter’ to reveal women’s central role in the survival and evolution of the human race。 She follows their progress from the days when God was a woman through to the triumphs of the Amazons and Assyrian war queens: she looks at the rise of organised religion and the growing oppression of women: she charts the long slow struggle for women’s rights culminating in the twentieth century women’s movements: and finally she presents a vision of women breaking free。
This brilliant and absorbing book turns the spotlight on the hidden side of history to present a fascinating new view of the world， overturning our preconceptions to restore women to their rightful place at the centre of the worldwide story of revolution， empire， war and peace。
Spiced with tales of individual women who have shaped history， celebrating the work and lives of the unsung female millions， distinguished by a wealth of research， The Women’s History of the World redefines the concept of historical reality。
Reviews
Juniperus
，
In the first chapter， this book puts forth a contradiction， which it spends the rest of the book addressing: that women had it better in primitive society and that women’s rights are the most advanced they’ve ever been today。 This book is about how these two ideas can coexist， and how it’s even more complicated than that。 The science is handled kind of clumsily， with some oversimplified or straight up wrong evopsych， but the history is very well written。 For this reason I’d put the book in the c In the first chapter， this book puts forth a contradiction， which it spends the rest of the book addressing: that women had it better in primitive society and that women’s rights are the most advanced they’ve ever been today。 This book is about how these two ideas can coexist， and how it’s even more complicated than that。 The science is handled kind of clumsily， with some oversimplified or straight up wrong evopsych， but the history is very well written。 For this reason I’d put the book in the category “cultural feminism” instead of “radical feminism”… There’s some very questionable conclusions that rely on the existence of some mystical female nature。 It’s also not really mostly about the everyday lives of women throughout history as the title and intro suggest。 “Zeroes and Ones” by Sadie Plant does a better job of talking about that， though it’s definitely focused on just one aspect。 This is definitely a history book， and it’s very rushed at that， jumping from subject to subject almost randomly and it’s spread way too thin！ It covers way too much ground to go into detail about any one thing， but is definitely a good primer on the subject of feminism。 I do think I would have liked it better if it was actually about who cooked the last supper though！ I think it’s sort of a cop out for Miles to say in the introduction that it’s “a history of women， not of feminism”… is feminism a bad word？ That being said， I don’t get the reviewers who say this is “white feminism”， in my opinion Miles does a great job of showing that no matter the historical context misogyny is an ever-present throughline。 She doesn’t let white women off the hook for the racial oppression they’re complicit in， but has enough nuance to say even they were victims of misogyny。 Where’s the lie？ 。。。more
Light of Astarte - Bookgram
，
𝑼𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒔𝒖 “𝑪𝒉𝒊 𝒉𝒂 𝒄𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒐 𝒍’𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒂？” 𝒅𝒊 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔Salve a tutti！ Oggi vi parlo di “Chi ha cucinato l’ultima cena？” di Rosalind Miles， questo libro mi è stato consigliato da un gruppo letture “Mai più zitte #silenzioalfemminile” gestito dalla dolce Mara Carlesi。Cercavo un gruppo letture che consigliasse libri sul femmineo， volevo dei titoli validi， ma per questo libro dal titolo un po’ pretenzioso si sarebbe potuto far di meglio。Mi è piaciuto un sacco l’excursus sulla Dea Madre， ho 𝑼𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒔𝒖 “𝑪𝒉𝒊 𝒉𝒂 𝒄𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒐 𝒍’𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒂？” 𝒅𝒊 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔Salve a tutti！ Oggi vi parlo di “Chi ha cucinato l’ultima cena？” di Rosalind Miles， questo libro mi è stato consigliato da un gruppo letture “Mai più zitte #silenzioalfemminile” gestito dalla dolce Mara Carlesi。Cercavo un gruppo letture che consigliasse libri sul femmineo， volevo dei titoli validi， ma per questo libro dal titolo un po’ pretenzioso si sarebbe potuto far di meglio。Mi è piaciuto un sacco l’excursus sulla Dea Madre， ho preferito il capitolo due su tutti gli altri， ma a volte la raccolta di storie delle donne elencate， a volte perdeva il filo conduttore， descrivendo a grandi linee le loro vite。Una cosa che mi è particolarmente interessata è la visione dell’autrice Dio-Paredro， partner della Dea e sulle interpretazioni del suo titolo sociale nella storia。 Spesso la Dea veniva accompagnata con un giovane amante， col figlio o col marito， cosicchè si possa pensare ad una formai incestuosa。 Ma l’autrice chiarisce che “figlio” o “fratello” sottolineavano l’ambito sociale del paredro， evidenziando che l’uomo fosse solo di passaggio， passivo all’attività della Dea， una sorta di effetto kleenex usa-e-getta。 Ma purtroppo questo tipo di slang idiomatico è stato contorto e usato come pretesto dalle prime sette patriarcali， per giustificare nel sangue l’oppressione degli stati guidati da donne， e quindi a capo di imperi economici， esempi sono le regine Zenobia， e Semiramis。“Chi ha cucinato l’ultima cena？” si è rivelato una lettura tratti pesante con poche nozioni che riguardassero realmente la Dea， ma descrivendo il contesto storico in cui il patriarcato si è fatto strada nel sangue， tra gli abusi e stupri， giustificato da un Dio fatto a immagine e somiglianza dell’uomo: avaro。-Astarte 。。。more
Paola
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La Storia al femminile。。。 L'alto lato della medaglia della Storia dell'umanità。。。Finalmente！Un libro che andrebbe integrato in parallelo con i libri di scuola！😊 La Storia al femminile。。。 L'alto lato della medaglia della Storia dell'umanità。。。Finalmente！Un libro che andrebbe integrato in parallelo con i libri di scuola！😊 。。。more
Raluca
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Wanted to highlight the important parts。 Ended up highlighting the whole book。 A must for every woman and girl in this world。 This is our story。
L
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Required reading This book should be required reading for all adults， female & male， to help us understand the historical and purposeful suppression of women & women’s rights。 Still a long way to go for all of us。
Briana Kale
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3。5 The premise of uncovering the overall feminine power and individual heroines of history was largely successful， but I found the power of the first and last sections waned through the middle。 The pacing of Miles’ chronicles of the depths of misery women have experienced at the hands of men and the systematic erasure of women as humans dampened the feeling of discovery and empowerment the early chapter inspired， but she can’t be faulted for reporting that sad history faithfully。 Delivered with 3。5 The premise of uncovering the overall feminine power and individual heroines of history was largely successful， but I found the power of the first and last sections waned through the middle。 The pacing of Miles’ chronicles of the depths of misery women have experienced at the hands of men and the systematic erasure of women as humans dampened the feeling of discovery and empowerment the early chapter inspired， but she can’t be faulted for reporting that sad history faithfully。 Delivered with a stinging turn of phrase， this book declares that women’s history is human history。 。。。more
Heather
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Really loved this but at times I wish the author had said， "warning this next part is going to make you cry so you might want to pull over。" Really loved this but at times I wish the author had said， "warning this next part is going to make you cry so you might want to pull over。" 。。。more
EmReads
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Really interesting， but do be prepared for some mental drain。 Spoiler alert， turns out women have been treated REALLY badly for a REALLY long time （who knew？） and reading about some of the horrors endured really does get you down。
The Books Blender
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Recensione completa -> https://thebooksblender。altervista。or。。。 Recensione completa -> https://thebooksblender。altervista。or。。。 。。。more
Jessica
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A must-read for high school students I think， would help counter ‘the phallacy of history’。 It could do with a revision， as it reads a little dated at times
Aleksandra Lenz
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No。 Lot of misinformation， probably based on racism。 At some point it was all about men's cruelty against women over and over again without making any point。 I can't really tell what the target audience should be。 It's very repetitive， though not scientifically wrong。 I was getting echo-chamber vibes and instead missed some intersectional analysis。 As a feminist， I'm very aware about the oppression of women。 I was hoping for a more diverse analysis about herstory and instead got a very narrow vi No。 Lot of misinformation， probably based on racism。 At some point it was all about men's cruelty against women over and over again without making any point。 I can't really tell what the target audience should be。 It's very repetitive， though not scientifically wrong。 I was getting echo-chamber vibes and instead missed some intersectional analysis。 As a feminist， I'm very aware about the oppression of women。 I was hoping for a more diverse analysis about herstory and instead got a very narrow view about it。 Interestingly， there is very little content about lesbians and female-only spaces。 I get that he book was written in the 80ies， but still think it could have been done better。 。。。more
Thoughtcrimes
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After the first two chapters， this book turns from a slightly strange indulgence in unproven， scientifically sloppy matriarchal woo-woo into a trailblazer of feminist class-consciousness。 Yes， this book is quite Western-centric， and yes， it only manages to touch a vast number of topics on the surface 。。。 but my god， did it open my eyes！ Who Cooked The Last Supper should be mandatory reading for every woman， or at least every feminist， for it offers unique， forcefully repressed insights into the After the first two chapters， this book turns from a slightly strange indulgence in unproven， scientifically sloppy matriarchal woo-woo into a trailblazer of feminist class-consciousness。 Yes， this book is quite Western-centric， and yes， it only manages to touch a vast number of topics on the surface 。。。 but my god， did it open my eyes！ Who Cooked The Last Supper should be mandatory reading for every woman， or at least every feminist， for it offers unique， forcefully repressed insights into the ways men really see us， the ways men will always treat us unless we organise against their stronghold。 This book is an educational， fierce rallying cry， at times intolerably depressing for all the male depravity it highlights， at times hope-inspiring。 And the author's final warning is certainly more up-to-date than ever: we now live in a time when that most important of all female rights， the right to *define*， is violently taken from us。 Looking at the current political situation， one cannot help but notice the newest patriarchal backlash against feminist consciousness: for every single time women have gained some victories， men immediately sent out male pseudoscientific "experts" who claimed， on the basis of psychology and physiology， to know so much more about womanhood than women ever will。 Sound familiar？ 。。。more
Laura Pellegrini
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Perspective changing read
Amanda
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Several months into my secondattempt at reading this book， I am officially giving up。 The author tries so hard to create a single universal narrative that the history is uselessly vague and simplistic。 Little-to-no acknowledgment of race， class， or other factors that affect women's experiences。 Weirdly downplays FGM and intersperses descriptions of sexual violence with dick puns。 I recognize that it may have been insightful in the 80s but definitely not worth the effort to slog through it now。 Several months into my secondattempt at reading this book， I am officially giving up。 The author tries so hard to create a single universal narrative that the history is uselessly vague and simplistic。 Little-to-no acknowledgment of race， class， or other factors that affect women's experiences。 Weirdly downplays FGM and intersperses descriptions of sexual violence with dick puns。 I recognize that it may have been insightful in the 80s but definitely not worth the effort to slog through it now。 。。。more
Savada
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The book is highly recommended。
Vacrda
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This book is totally excellent。
Duchess_Nimue
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I was expecting a look into the history of female contribution's that were erased from common knowledge。 I got a historical analysis and retelling of the female indoctrination and exploitation。 It was eye-opening， it was a difficult pill to swallow， it was necessary。 This is one of those book you are glad you read， but it took all you had to finish。 I was expecting a look into the history of female contribution's that were erased from common knowledge。 I got a historical analysis and retelling of the female indoctrination and exploitation。 It was eye-opening， it was a difficult pill to swallow， it was necessary。 This is one of those book you are glad you read， but it took all you had to finish。 。。。more
Kacy
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incredibly well written。 she bears witness to the brutality of historical and current oppression with sensitivity and fury， in a way that deeply honours all of the woman who came before us。 "the love， the struggle， and the work will go on。" incredibly well written。 she bears witness to the brutality of historical and current oppression with sensitivity and fury， in a way that deeply honours all of the woman who came before us。 "the love， the struggle， and the work will go on。" 。。。more
Un Búnker Propio
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Fue el primer libro de historia femenina que leí， y me fascinó ver hasta qué punto llega el borrado de las mujeres en el relato histórico que se nos enseña。
Zusu
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Lots of interesting researchGlaring bias
Amanda
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A deep diveThis should be required reading to all humans。 As a woman this was a hard， insightful ， interesting and rage inducing read。 If you seek to fill some of the gaping holes of history definitely pick this up。 It is not light reading。 If you question why things are the way they are， read this it will give insight。 If you are content with the way things are maybe read this and you'll find out maybe you shouldn't be。 A page turning thought inducer。 But read it and come to your own conclusion A deep diveThis should be required reading to all humans。 As a woman this was a hard， insightful ， interesting and rage inducing read。 If you seek to fill some of the gaping holes of history definitely pick this up。 It is not light reading。 If you question why things are the way they are， read this it will give insight。 If you are content with the way things are maybe read this and you'll find out maybe you shouldn't be。 A page turning thought inducer。 But read it and come to your own conclusions。 。。。more
Lydia
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I wanted to like this， but features the worst of 2nd wave writing （a lot of it I do like and respect）: woowoo Cult of Goddess shit， pre-historic matriarchal utopia， zero class analysis （verging on #girlboss with regard to colonizers）， zero intersectionality。 Any of the figures or movements brought up would be served better by reading a separate history book。 I guess its value lies in its status as a text from the 80s， and not the content within。
grace
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very interesting。 writing a general history of the world is an ambitious undertaking， and filtering it through the perspective of over half of the human population doesn't lessen that burden terribly。 i can see why a lot of people recommend this book to those beginning to explore feminism; it's easy and accessible， but that's where it suffers， too。 it's lacking， particularly in later parts， any real analysis of the experiences of women who aren't white and/or heterosexual。 i understand that it's very interesting。 writing a general history of the world is an ambitious undertaking， and filtering it through the perspective of over half of the human population doesn't lessen that burden terribly。 i can see why a lot of people recommend this book to those beginning to explore feminism; it's easy and accessible， but that's where it suffers， too。 it's lacking， particularly in later parts， any real analysis of the experiences of women who aren't white and/or heterosexual。 i understand that it's hard to cover everything in such a broad-ranging book， but i think that more nuance could have been applied， particularly in the sections that dealt with colonial history。 。。。more
Lorena
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A very interesting overview of women's history from early civilisations onwards。 I would describe this as a jumping off point to go and read more in depth into the things you are interested in。 I gave this to my whole family after I read it and the only thing I would say is that Miles uses hyperbolic language when describing certain things， the nuance of which was lost on my father and brother。 As a result I think they read the rest of the book with the view that she was man-bashing， and missed A very interesting overview of women's history from early civilisations onwards。 I would describe this as a jumping off point to go and read more in depth into the things you are interested in。 I gave this to my whole family after I read it and the only thing I would say is that Miles uses hyperbolic language when describing certain things， the nuance of which was lost on my father and brother。 As a result I think they read the rest of the book with the view that she was man-bashing， and missed some valid points that she made。 Not sure if that can be helped though。 Worth the read！ 。。。more
Sue
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An ambitious survey of the history of womanhood。 There's a whole lot of information contained in this relatively short volume。 The content is highly concentrated and remarkably readable， though at times it's a lot to take in。 The author peppers her prose with references to specific anecdotes， most of them relating to ordinary people throughout the course of history。 By the time you finish you won't be thinking "yay for women，" quite the opposite since women's treatment throughout history is heav An ambitious survey of the history of womanhood。 There's a whole lot of information contained in this relatively short volume。 The content is highly concentrated and remarkably readable， though at times it's a lot to take in。 The author peppers her prose with references to specific anecdotes， most of them relating to ordinary people throughout the course of history。 By the time you finish you won't be thinking "yay for women，" quite the opposite since women's treatment throughout history is heavy reading， but you will come away well-informed。 。。。more
Rachel Jackson
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Read online here: https://drive。google。com/file/d/1BaDa。。。Overall， I can say I enjoyed Who Cooked The Last Supper？， and I was engaged with it and compelled by its content and tone。 I had heard mostly good things about this book for quite a long time， and for the most part it lived up to its reputation。 Rosalind Miles writes a somewhat speculative， flowery history of women all over the world， from when they were revered as goddesses， to their downfall in sexual reproduction and general status， to Read online here: https://drive。google。com/file/d/1BaDa。。。Overall， I can say I enjoyed Who Cooked The Last Supper？， and I was engaged with it and compelled by its content and tone。 I had heard mostly good things about this book for quite a long time， and for the most part it lived up to its reputation。 Rosalind Miles writes a somewhat speculative， flowery history of women all over the world， from when they were revered as goddesses， to their downfall in sexual reproduction and general status， to a more modern slow advancement of reclaimed progress; she writes this history with a mixture of facts and documentation in copious name-dropped lists， feel-good statements of empowerment of what was once or what might have been， and sarcastic but sometimes overly preachy and/or judgmental content on how far we’ve come。Breaking this book down to its essentials， it’s an important history of women’s struggles worldwide throughout all of history。 But maybe I was duped too much by the book’s title: who cooked the last supper？ We never find out， unsurprisingly， nor do we find out much else of the women behind the scenes， at least not with any hard facts behind them。 I was hoping for more of a book about the social and cultural influence of these no-named women， rather than Miles still painstakingly listing off achievement after achievement of women in every time and era whose names did go down in history。 Some of them were certainly interesting， but I wanted more facts on the burdens that women have shouldered over the millennia; I wanted a picture of the world and of history that put a number and a quantification for how much women have done for society—and， of course， for men。 Unfortunately， it’s pretty clear that Miles was a white upper class woman writing in the 1980s in much of this book， from the language she uses to describe other cultures and the interpretation of their customs and habits， to focus on American and British policies and historical events。 This doesn’t always deter from her arguments， since she does make a point to bring up a diverse view of women around the globe， but there are some questionable spots that hinder her arguments just enough。 I also don’t know if I can trust a lot of what she says based on her supposed seat of superiority—at the end of the book she tries to connect racism and sexism together and how it’s been addressed by both men and women in the past， and she falls flat。 It just doesn’t work for a white woman to talk about racism unless she is willing to talk about her own race’s role in perpetuating it， even if， as Miles quotes when talking about the 19th century suffrage struggle， other white women put women’s rights above Black American rights。As I was reading I found myself wishing more that Miles had chosen instead to take a question like “who cooked the last supper？” and devote a chapter to it， like a women’s history detective solving a mystery。 Then she could choose another unknown woman in history for another chapter and write about that。 In that way， the message would still come across， that women have been ignored and overlooked， but it would be a more in-depth and credible historical view of women’s history， rather than a jam-packed， ill-documented， poorly understood cultural soup of everything she wanted to include in the book。 Still worth reading， still interesting， still relevant to women’s rights today， but take it with a grain of salt。 。。。more
Nalu
，
Really interessting read I recommend。 However， there is a noticeable focus on white women and european/american culture， with any oher place on earth mentioned only as an afterthought。
Melissa
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Very dense- great quotes。 I wish the book could have been paired down。 I skimmed most chapters as it didn't seem cohesive。 Very dense- great quotes。 I wish the book could have been paired down。 I skimmed most chapters as it didn't seem cohesive。 。。。more
Chelsea
，
i read this slowly， but only because the intensity in which the information in this book hit me made it so i had emotional reactions and needed some time between readings。i loved this， something about hearing the history that happened between and behind the history we learned in school was beyond fascinating。 i recommend everyone give this a read。
Megan Rasmussen
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