Subtitled ‘A Fanfare of Fabulous Females’, written by Sandi Toksvig, illustrated by Sandy Nightingale: it was clear from the off that this would be a loveable book. And it is. Out just in time for Christmas, its quirky novelty will doubtless bring joy to many. This is not a ‘serious’ book of women’s history, but that’s part of its charm and offers Toksvig the freedom to tell these stories in her own, very wonderful, voice.

In the preface she writes that history is more often than not ‘his-story’; in this book the two Sandies reclaim historical narrative in order to shine a light on its glorious idiosyncrasies. Toksvig points out that “we know who attended the last supper but we have no idea who cooked it”. The humour that underpins this book, in the writing and the drawings, prompts snorts of laughter which still manage to leave a note of thoughtful solemnity in the air.

The stories here are fantastic. From Queen Sammuramat, who asked King Ninus if she might rule for one day (he said yes, she used her new found powers to execute him and rule for a further forty two years) to Bessie Coleman, the first African American pilot (“the very definition of strength, dignity, courage, integrity and beauty”; from a less than humble Texan background she taught herself French so that she could travel to the Somme to learn to fly, and 10,000 people attended her funeral). Nightingale’s illustrations are pitch perfect, with a rotund (they are all rotund) Bessie Colman smiling and flying with wings of cloud. There are many other women here, from a collection of Fannies (Farmer, Burney and Mendelssohn) to “women whose names begin with æ”.

The book draws attention to the often thin line between heroine and harridan. What all these women hold in common is that they were feisty and, in differing ways and degrees, empowered women. The vibrant, wry illustrations (Dame Ethel Smith, conducting March of the Women with a toothbrush, from her cell in Holloway prison, is my favourite) compliment the narrative perfectly. Toksvig claims that she is neither a heroine nor a harridan, but it can’t be denied after dipping in and out of this book (more rewarding than a cover to cover sitting) that she is hilarious. 

The book ends with a perhaps slightly overwrought analogy between the text and a restorative bowl of soup and the line “there is so much left still to be devoured”. In an interview, Toksvig picks out human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy, actress Judi Dench, (begrudgingly) Maggie Thatcher and writers P.D James and Maya Angelou as modern women who might come to constitute a similar book in years to come. Provoking this important question is the book’s final grace: who will you remember?