From the bestselling author of FEMINA, a brilliant reappraisal of the medieval women whose lives have been exploited over centuries for political, nation-building ends. In LEGENDA, bestselling historian Professor Janina Ramirez peels back the layers of time to reveal how the identities of women have been co-opted by those intent on crafting national identities. Their names are well-known, and summaries of their achievements have been recited in classrooms for decades, but medieval women like Joan of Arc, Lady Godiva and Isabella of Castile have been misrepresented, their stories twisted and weaponised. Meanwhile, ground-breaking 18th and 19th-century women who blazed a trail through revolutionary Europe have been forgotten, their legacies too easily dismissed or ignored. Questioning established narratives and searching for the real women behind the legends, Ramirez interrogates what defines a nation and who gets to build it, shining a light on how history is so often hijacked to serve the ideological and political interests of the present. PRAISE FOR JANINA RAMIREZ: 'Ramirez blasts a powerful spotlight into the so-called Dark Ages and reveals a vibrant world, awash with colour and character' DAN SNOW 'Like the interlace stonework on an Anglo-Saxon cross, Janina Ramirez's themes are interwoven with a conssumate skill' TOM HOLLAND 'Passionate, provocative and brilliant' LUCY WORSLEY 'Janina Ramirez is a born storyteller . . . This is bravura narrative history underpinned by passionate advocacy for the women whom medieval history has too often ignored or overlooked' DAN JONES 'Skillfully brings out from the shadows the lives of women who ruled, fought, traded, created, and inspired' CAT JARMAN 'Absolutely brilliant and highly recommended' CAITLIN MORAN
Author
Janina Sara María Ramírez (née Maleczek; 7 July 1980), sometimes credited as Nina Ramírez, is a British art and cultural historian and TV presenter, based in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art, within their own historical context. Ramírez went to school in Slough. She gained a degree in English literature, specialising in Old and Middle English, from St Anne's College, Oxford, before completing her postgraduate studies at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York. She completed an art/literature PhD on the symbolism of birds, which led to a lectureship in York's Art History Department, followed by lecturing posts at the University of Winchester, University of Warwick, and University of Oxford. Ramírez is currently the course director on the Certificate in History of Art at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education.
