Linda R. Hirshman books

Linda R. Hirshman is an American attorney, legal philosopher, and author of seven nonfiction books on feminism, law, civil rights history, and the politics of social change.

Non-Fiction

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Hard Bargains: The Politics of Sex 1997 Buy
A Woman’s Guide to Law School 1999 Buy
Get to Work: . . . And Get a Life, Before It’s Too Late 2006 Buy
Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution 2012 Buy
Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World 2015 Buy
Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment 2019 Buy
The Color of Abolition: How a Printer, a Prophet, and a Contessa Moved a Nation 2022 Buy

Linda R. Hirshman built her career at the intersection of law and feminist theory, first as a professor and then as a public intellectual whose books bring legal and historical analysis to questions that matter outside academic circles. Her debut, Hard Bargains: The Politics of Sex (1997), examined how the law has treated gender and sexuality, and her second book A Woman’s Guide to Law School (1999) was a practical guide aimed at helping women navigate the institution.

Get to Work (2006) made her genuinely controversial. The argument — that educated professional women who leave careers to raise children are making a mistake, for themselves and for feminist progress — landed hard in a cultural moment still processing the so-called opt-out revolution. Hirshman was unapologetic about the provocation, and the debate the book generated ran well beyond the usual review circuit.

Her later work broadened into civil rights history more broadly. Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution (2012) traced the legal and political campaign for same-sex marriage and equal rights. Sisters in Law (2015) followed O’Connor and Ginsburg from their law school years through their Supreme Court tenures, drawing on extensive research to tell parallel stories of women navigating a profession that had little use for them. Reckoning (2019) examined the history of anti-sexual harassment law, and The Color of Abolition (2022) reconstructed the alliance between Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and the Irish immigrant journalist who helped fund their movement.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books has Linda R. Hirshman written?

Linda R. Hirshman has written seven books in one series.

What was Linda R. Hirshman's first book?

Linda R. Hirshman’s first book is Hard Bargains: The Politics of Sex, published in 1997.

What is Linda R. Hirshman best known for?

Linda R. Hirshman is probably best known for her 2006 book Get to Work, which made a pointed argument that highly educated women should not opt out of professional careers, and for Sisters in Law (2015), her dual biography of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg documenting their parallel paths to the Supreme Court.

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