Helen McCarthy is University Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John's College. Her first book was The British People and the League of Nations and her second book, Women of the World: The Rise of the Female Diplomat, won Best International Affairs Book at the Political Book Awards 2015. @HistorianHelen
Authoritative in scope and calmly judged, but with an ear for voices and an eye for detail, Double Lives is the history we have long wanted of a subject still freighted with emotion and misunderstanding Carefully researched, stylishly written and highly entertaining. The story is rich with female pioneers. McCarthy's women of the world stand as a reminder that, for many women, ours is a world which has not yet been won * Sunday Telegraph * Vivid and engaging. Complexities come out beautifully in the lives recovered in this book * Guardian * As McCarthy eloquently argues in this important book full of brilliant vignettes, fighting to the top is usually harder for a woman * Independent *