Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth, and Power

A groundbreaking economic history of the world told through stories of the forgotten women who powered it.

How many times have we been told that the working woman is a modern phenomenon? That men were responsible for the prosperity of humanity? That women's production was, for much of human history, confined to reproduction?

Economica shows that women have always been at the heart of economic progress, as entrepreneurs, merchants and industrialists - from Phryne, the richest woman in Ancient Athens, to Ching Shih, a sex-worker turned pirate who controlled trade in the South China Sea. Author Victoria Bateman also highlights the amazing stories of female workers who built the Pyramids, traded on the Silk Road and dominated London's medieval breweries.

Spanning the past twelve millennia, from the Stone Age to the present day, Economica rewrites our understanding of women's role in the economy, and tells a more accurate history of us all.

Review

The economic history of half of humankind has broken out of its ghetto. 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

Who are the wealth-creators? Victoria Bateman shows that the standard image of heroic male entrepreneurs or inventors could not be more misleading; in Economica she tells a gripping tale of all the unsung female industrialists and workers who are missing from conventional economic histories -- Professor Dame Diane Coyle

Victoria Bateman's Economica is a must-read for anyone interested in women's history and economic justice. Bateman powerfully argues that women have always been central to economic life, from 18th-century shoemakers like Ann Askew to pioneers like Priscilla Wakefield, who founded the UK's first bank for women and children. For centuries, laws and social norms have constrained women's economic freedom, not only limiting individual potential but also undermining prosperity for all. Her research reminds us: economies thrive when women have the autonomy to work, earn, and control their wealth -- Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire and A World On Fire

An entertainingly readable, well-evidenced global history that places women at its heart. Taking a grand sweep across the ages, it delivers a powerful message about freedoms and challenges us to shape our planet in the interests of all our citizens -- Sara Horrell, Professor of Economic History, London School of Economics

Taking readers on an enthralling journey from prehistory to the modern world, Victoria Bateman rightly emphasises the importance of women's economic agency in human history. Economica puts women's work back into the story of the global economy. Making the case for women's central importance, readers will be left wondering how economic history could ever be studied without reference to one half of the world's population -- Elizabeth Norton, author of Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy

This wonderful book is not just a much needed economic history of women but an economic history of everyone - for in Bateman's eyes giving freedom, equality, and dignity to women leads to high productivity and economic growth. The economic success of men is not down solely to their own abilities and efforts but is a joint product of the economic success of their mothers, sisters, and daughters. This thesis is defended with a wide ranging familiarity with world history and an acute analysis of the economic incentives and forces at play. Economica is also a pleasure to read -- Professor R.C. Allen, Global Distinguished Professor of Economic History at NYU

Victoria Bateman's revelatory and compelling new book puts women at the very heart of mankind's economic history. Economica should help ensure that's where they will remain -- Ben Chu, BBC

Ambitious, wide-ranging and absorbing - this book sets a new standard in economic history -- Tim Harford, author of How To Make The World Add Up

Erudite, ambitious and richly global in scope, Economica shows how women's economic labour has so often been overlooked, ignored or relegated to obscurity. Victoria Bateman's fascinating book does not just offer a corrective to the past, but serves as a vital guide to our collective futures -- Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads

striking ― The Mail on Sunday

This delightful book should be your new companion when you're looking into any empire or community of the past ― The New Feminist

[Economica] is entertaining and [Bateman's] contribution is indisputable ― Times Literary Supplement

Economica is an epic story . . . an important retelling of global economic history that puts women at the centre ― Financial Times

a compelling read . .. . filled with interesting and extraordinary stories . . . it encompasses the entire history of (wo)mankind -- Rituparna Roy ― The Telegraph of India

While traditional historians have presented the past as a land in which men were the producers and women only reproducers, Bateman convincingly shows that this was never the case. In doing so, she creates a more comprehensive account of our common heritage . . . In contrast to the myth that women began to emerge from the home into the workplace only in the 20th century, Bateman shows that in every major civilisation, women have indeed participated in economic activity, with or without pay, or with less pay than men, until they were deliberately excluded . . . Bateman regards the deliberate exclusion of women from the economic sphere as the beginning of any civilisation's decline. It is a persuasive argument -- Uma Mahadevan-Dasgupta ― The Hindu

This book is must-read . . . It is rare that I come away from a book with little criticism or suggestions for what might have been done differently, but this book is an exception. I am a better economist for having read it and I would encourage others to do the same -- Abigail R. Hall ― The Review of Austrian Economics

Bateman's gifts as a scholar, writer and wit are beautifully displayed throughout . . . engaging, enjoyable, pacy, fun and quite frankly, exciting -- Professor Judy Stephenson ― The Economic History Review

About the Author

Victoria Bateman is author of the critically acclaimed Naked Feminism: Breaking the Cult of Female Modesty and The Sex Factor: How Women Made the West Rich. She is resident economic historian on the BBC Radio 4 series Understand: The Economy and acts as a historical consultant to a major television production company. She has taught at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, including as Director of Studies in Economics and Lecturer in Economic History. Victoria has been profiled by The Times and Daily Mail, has written for national and international press, including the Guardian, i, Telegraph and Bloomberg, and has appeared on numerous occasions on radio and television. Victoria is the winner of the 2026 Hajnal Prize for Excellence in Economic History.