The Secret History of Wonder Woman Paperback – July 7, 2015

I have been a longtime fan of Wonder Woman comics. As a youngster my favorite action comics included Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. When I saw this 436 page soft cover book (The Secret History of wonder Woman by Jill Lepore-with a new afterword) on Amazon for a bargain price I immediately purchased it along with another Wonder Woman book.Before reading this book I had no idea of the history behind the creation of the most popular female superhero of all time. I also had no idea that the author of Super Woman also created the first Lie Detector. I found this book to be a fascinating read and obviously well-researched by the author. The relationship between the early growth of women’s rights and the development of Wonder Woman is not well known. This excellent book is organized into three parts. Part one (Veritas) is about the early years of William Moulton Marston, the creator of Wonder Woman. Part two (Family Circle) covers the relationship of the author with the two women (ménage Otway) in his life. Part three (Paradise Island) is about the development of Wonder Woman. There is also an interesting epilogue section and an afterword, as well as a comic’s index.If you are a fan of Wonder Woman this is a must read book.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Never Trust a Politician: A critical review of politics and politicians).

This is how Wonder Woman came to be. It is more about the man, William Marston, and the women in his life, Elizabeth Holloway and Olivia Byrne (niece of Margaret Sanger). While we learn the history of these people, we also learn of the suffragette and feminist movement of the early 20th Century. Marston, Holloway, and Byrne were modern and not inhibited by cultural norms. Though he married Halloway, Byrne lived with them as his mistress and possibly more. While Holloway worked outside the home, Byrne took care of the children. They kept their relationship secret even from their children. Upon their deaths, not much changed in knowledge within their family except the grandchildren pulled papers out of the trash which told a lot of the family and their work.I enjoyed this book. I never knew much of this history. Marston had a big ego and craved attention as he wrote articles and the Wonder Woman comic. The women were quieter but their contributions to his work were noted. I liked how the suffragette movement of the early 1900's was shown. I did not realize how feminism changed through the decades, how it died down then WWII happened making it come back into focus as women move into the work force, then how it was forced back after the war until the 1970's. I suspect Margaret Sanger and her sister Ethel Byrne are rolling over in their graves with the political situation that is occurring today, how much of their work is being undone.This is timely. It is an interesting history. Seeing how Wonder Woman changed through the decades is also interesting and knowing movies with her have been popular lately. I think Marston would have hated how his comic was changed after his death, but he would have been happy that she is still popular today. This is worth reading.

Used for my class bc it’s cheaper here and I actually liked it

The content is a 4 star but the printing is a 1 star.Not sure if it was just me but the binding on the glossier pages (comic section) fell out on the first read on my first copy as well as a second copy of the book! Does Vintage Publishing = vintage glue?The research and writing however is superb. A highly accessible collection of stories. That WW's kinky and amazing inventor/s also pulled off inventing the lie detector (credited to Holloway), the DISC model (Marston) and writing for Family Circle (Byrne) is icing on the cake.Lepore's account is as much an intellectually titillating feminist origin story of WW as well as the curious man who regarded woman as superior to men...with an obviously healthy appetite for learning, loving and sex.Although Lepore drenches with details, I found myself wanting even more on Olive Byrne (including the 40 years she lived with Holloway after Marston's death!). I also wanted more on the emotional re-education propaganda of WW including the connections to the DISC model (Dominance, Inducement, Steady, Conscientious) and Marston's psychological published work (which I imagine is deeply wonky and inaccessible). The juxtaposition of WW running for president as well as being chained and gagged, all in a days work is just awesome.