Intrepid Women Cantini}}res and Vivandi}}res of the French Army [Hardcover]

Cantini?res and vivandi?res were women who served as official, uniformed combat auxiliaries of French army units from 1793 to the eve of World War I. Technically non-combatant spouses of active-duty soldiers, they fought and died in every conflict from the wars of the Revolution through colonial campaigns in Algeria, Mexico, West Africa, and Indochina. At a time when women were strictly controlled by the Napoleonic Code, cantini?res owned property, traveled widely, and exercised a fierce independence from their husbands. However, despite their actions, they passed largely under the radar of the growing feminist and anti-feminist movements that flourished in France from 1792 onward. Based on extensive archival research as well as published sources, Intrepid Women is the first serious book-length study of a previously ignored aspect of women's and military history.

... a major and valuable accomplishment. It is gratifying to see these formidable women given their story and their due.June 2011[T]his is a well-researched and innovative account. The 'intrepid women' of the French army have found their historian.

Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. An Uncertain Existence: Vivandi?res in the Royal Army
2. Absolutely Necessary : Vivandi?res in the Armies of the French Revolution
3. Expanded Opportunities: Cantini?res in the Armies of Napoleon
4. Useful and Necessary : Cantini?res and the Constitutional Monarchies
5. The Second Empire: The Golden Age of the Cantini?res
6. The Third Republic and the End of the Cantini?res
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

[The author] is to be congratulated on his attempt to shed some light on the role of the cantini?re in both war and peace. The role of women in war has been overlooked for far too long.February, 2011Cardoza's book is well-written, thorough, very readable, and most of all, original. As a result of his painstaking research, Cardoza easily convinces his readers of the iml£(