WH Allen announces new book by bestselling historian Janina Ramirez with Hatchards window reveal
The latest book by bestselling author Janina Ramirez was announced with a window unveiling in Hatchards on Friday (6th June) and amplified by a cinematic book trailer that was shared by retailers.
Her new work, Legenda: The Real Women Behind the Myths that Shaped Europe is set to be published on 6th November, supported by a major campaign and book tour.
Former commissioning editor at Ebury (of which WH Allen is an imprint) Suzanne Connelly bought UK and Commonwealth rights to the much-anticipated release as part of a two-book deal from Rosemary Scoular at United Agents.
Ramirez’s previous book, Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It was published in 2022 and was an instant Sunday Times bestseller, staying in the charts for 11 weeks. It was also the Waterstones and Foyles Book of the Month.
Legenda is a reappraisal of the women whose lives have been exploited for political, nation-building ends. Ramirez reveals the real women behind the myths and propaganda that have been used to shape our national identities, including the oft-misrepresented stories of Joan of Arc and Lady Godiva.
She also unearths the ground-breaking women in the 18th and 19th centuries who blazed a trail through revolutionary Europe, but have since been forgotten.
Ramirez is an Oxford academic and professor of medieval studies at the University of Lincoln, as well as a BBC broadcaster and researcher.
She said: “As a historian, I feel it is my duty not only to shed light on the past, but to create new interpretations that resonate with present-day concerns. The rise in nationalism cannot be ignored, and to understand where we are now, we need to look to the past to increase our understanding.
“Medieval women can provide a lens through which to scrutinise the development of European nations, illuminating both the worlds they lived in, and the one we have inherited today. The fascinating women I write about deserve to have their stories told and their names connected to more than political propaganda. Their voices should be heard.”
Editor of Legenda, Amanda Waters, said: “I was a huge fan of Janina and Femina before I joined WH Allen, so I am delighted to be working with Janina on these new books. Janina brings the women of the past to life in a way that captivates and inspires. With Legenda she has gifted us a new host of women to admire, and has created a fierce rebuttal to the rising tides of nationalism, showing us how history has been misused over centuries.”
