Gerhard (sociology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Germany) examines equality as a principle and practice of law in history, and legal theory from a feminist perspective. She reviews the history of the women's movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, with a focus on Germany, and examines three major legal issues: women's rights in the public sphere, women's legal capacities in private law, and women's human rights. This work was first published in German in 1990 (C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung); this American edition, somewhat revised, was translated by Allison Brown and Belinder Cooper and includes a new foreword. c. Book News Inc.