If the time ever comes when a woman is elected to the presidency of the United States, how well will she perform? Will she be able to rule better than our male presidents have? Will she be able to handle the complexities of running a country? One way to explore this theme is to analyze the women who have ruled in other countries. By examining the public and private lives of seventeen extraordinary women, you'll see how they came to power, their positive and negative accomplishments, their methods of ruling, and their impact on history. You'll meet Cleopatra; Isabella of Spain; Mary I, Elizabeth I, Mary II, Anne, Victoria, and Elizabeth II, all of England; Catherine de' Medici of France; Elizabeth I of Russia; Catherine the Great; Empress Maria Theresa of Austria; Empress Tz'u Hsi of China; Eva and Isabel Peron of Argentina; Golda Meir of Israel; and Indira Gandhi of India. These women led exciting, unusual lives and were as competent as their male counterparts in the worldly affairs of state. Whatever their virtues or vices, they are an intriguing group of women who show- without much doubt- that women can rule. 

From the book