Book excerpt: Comprehensive and riveting, this important volume on women's history surveys the revolutionary changes in the social, economic, and political status of women during the twentieth century. From the battles of suffragists and labor activists such as Carrie Chapman Catt and Rose Schneiderman to the provocative ideas of Betty Friedan, here are the women of vision and courage who fought for equality and freedom. But here too are the unexpected medical and technological discoveries that removed a woman's destiny from the restrictions of biology -- the electric washing machine, anesthesia for childbirth, sulfa drugs to stop post-partum deaths, the birth control pill, and more. This lively and provocative history covers groundbreaking legislation and Supreme Court rulings, yet it doesn't neglect the often conflicting cultural forces -- from Emily Post and Barbie to the founding of the La Leche League and Ellen DeGeneres's sitcom -- that have shaped women's lives in today's world. Book jacket.