A spirited pictorial resume of American woman's great adventure -- the revolt against the Victorian world and its protection -- carries this from ""bloomers to Bikinis"" with a text that is brisk and bright. It follows its theme, ""how women got where they are -- off the pedestal and down into the frantic modern world"", with pros and cons from the clothes, the kitchens, the manners and morals, education, careers, sport, etc., graphically illustrating the end result of no joy in the supposed utopia they have achieved. From the world of the late 19th century, to the fighters, to the scientific advances which freed the sex from backbreaking drudgery, on to the business women and the educational horizons opened up, through the changes in sports participation and fashion, ending with the psychological opposites of those who are beset with anxiety, guilt and unhappiness and those who have been able, in the younger generation, to live balanced, busy and useful lives, this handles its controversial subject with a pleasant ease and a full measure of entertainment.