ECONOMICA by Victoria Bateman (animation - This is the History of Us All. This is Economica)

Economica places women at the centre of the story of economic growth. Starting in the Stone Age and continuing to the present day, it takes the reader through the key economic milestones of the past twelve millennia - from the birth of farming to the advent of computing - all told through the experiences of women as well as men.


Historian Victoria Bateman weaves a thrilling, globe-spanning narrative that proves women weren't 'missing' from economic life, they were merely hidden from view. We discover the female workers who helped to build the Great Pyramid of Giza, and to plumb the city of ancient Rome; the silk weavers who made a vital contribution to the development of the Silk Road and global trade; the women who dominated London's brewing trade during medieval times; and the brave twentieth-century pioneers who fought to make our economies not just richer but fairer.

Economica rewrites our understanding of women's role in the economy, and tells a more accurate economic history of us all.

ECONOMICA by Victoria Bateman (book cover image)

PRAISE FOR ECONOMICA

  • "Erudite, ambitious and richly global in scope."

    PETER FRANKOPAN, author of The Silk Roads

  • “Ambitious, wide-ranging and absorbing—this book sets a new standard in economic history.”

    TIM HARFORD, author of The Undercover Economist

  • “Revelatory and compelling… puts women’s history at the very heart of mankind’s economic history.”

    BEN CHU, BBC

  • "A gripping tale of all the unsung female industrialists and workers who are missing from conventional economic histories."

    PROFESSOR DAME DIANE COYLE

  • “A must-read for anyone interested in women’s history and economic justice.”

    DR. AMANDA FOREMAN, author of The Duchess

  • “Readers will be left wondering how economic history could ever be studied without reference to one half of the world’s population.”

    DR. ELIZABETH NORTON, author of The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women

  • "Delivers a powerful message about freedoms and challenges us to shape our planet in the interest of all our citizens."

    PROFESSOR SARA HORRELL

  • "This wonderful book is not just a much-needed economic history of women but an economic history of everyone."

    PROFESSOR ROBERT C. ALLEN

  • “The time has come for Victoria Bateman’s comprehensive stocktaking of how women figured in the economy, from the caves to the computers. And the time has come for you to read it.”

    PROFESSOR DEIRDRE McCLOSKEY, author of Economical Writing

ORDER ECONOMICA

Economica is released in the UK on 28th August 2025 and in the US on 30th September 2025. Pre-order your copy below.