Marianne Bechhaus-Gerst, Mechthild Leutner, Hauke Neddermann, eds. Frauen in den deutschen Kolonien. Berlin: Links, 2009. 284 pp. EUR 24.90 (paper), ISBN 978-3-86153-526-3.

Reviewed by Daniel Walther (History Department, Wartburg College)
Published on H-German (March, 2011)
Commissioned by Susan R. Boettcher

Frauen in den deutschen Kolonien expands the breadth and depth of our understanding of women’s roles and positions in the colonial endeavor. This edited collection builds upon previous works that have dealt exclusively with German women active in the colonial field.[1] It goes beyond previous books, however, by bringing together the experiences of women, European and non-European, from across Germany’s overseas empire and the metropole into a single volume that covers not just the period of effective German colonialism but also the subsequent interwar period. The multifaceted comparative aspect of the collection offers the reader great potential to draw significant conclusions about the role of women in German colonialism.