Book excerpt: Historian, social reformer, and women's suffrage campaigner, Mary Ritter Beard (1876-1958) was one of the most prominent intellectuals of her day. Co-author with her husband, Charles Beard of The Rise of American Civilization: and other works in US history, she also founded the modern field of women's history. This collection of her letters, offers in effect an intellectual biography which is considered to be better documented and more vivid than any previous book about her.