Although it is a fact that man owes innumerable benefits to woman's care, devotion, and mental initiative, it is also true that through egoism and self-conceit he has never appreciated woman's work and achievements at their full value. On the contrary: while she was giving all and asking little, while she shared with man all hardships and perils, she was for thousands of years without any rights, not even as regards her own person and property. The book gives an account of woman's evolution, of her enduring and trying struggles for liberty, education, and recognition.