The history of photography, and women's role within that history, remains incomplete-despite the fact that the medium was invented more than 150 years ago. Pulitzer Prize nominee Martin Sandler's Against the Odds: Women Pioneers in the First Hundred Years of Photography, with its carefully balanced commentary on women who have been lost to the historical record as well as those who have received their due, makes a vital contribution to the literature on women photographers. Eight generously illustrated chapters explore the various genres which developed in the first 100 years after photography's invention, including portraiture (one of the earliest popular uses of photography); landscape; and photojournalism. The expert commentary by Martin Sandler reveals the hardships these women overcame and the considerable impact they made on the world of photography. The history of photography, and women's role within that history, remains incomplete-despite the fact that the medium was invented more than 150 years ago. Pulitzer Prize nominee Martin Sandler's Against the Odds: Women Pioneers in the First Hundred Years of Photography, with its carefully balanced commentary on women who have been lost to the historical record as well as those who have received their due, makes a vital contribution to the literature on women photographers. Eight generously illustrated chapters explore the various genres which developed in the first 100 years after photography's invention, including portraiture (one of the earliest popular uses of photography); landscape; and photo-journalism. The expert commentary by Martin Sandler reveals the hardships these women overcame and the considerable impact they made on the world of photography. The volume includes work by Dorothea Lange, who poignantly documented the hardships of Depression-era sharecroppers and Berenice Abbott, who is best known for her evocative shots of New York City. Margaret Bourke-White's considerable influence is detailed as the photojournalist who set the standard for press images through her work at Life magazine. Lesser known figures-who were well-known in their time-including early portraitists Catherine Barnes Ward and Frances Benjamin Johnston, captured turn-of-the century African-American daily life and as such contribute considerably to our understanding of our American past. It's hard to believe that a woman like Elizabeth Ellen Roberts had time to take hundreds of stunning panoramic photographs of the American prairie in the early 1900s, considering that she was a mother with a full-time job as North Dakota's first female game warden. But Roberts is just one of many exceptional photographers profiled by Martin W. Sandler in Against the Odds: Women Pioneers in the First Hundred Years of Photography . This generously illustrated book, which deals with such subjects as portraiture, images of Native Americans, landscape, and documentary and experimental photography, is written in an easygoing style reminiscent of a TV documentary--in fact, it was the basis for a PBS show. Sandler briefly profiles famous women in the field, such as Dorothea Lange, Laura Gilpin, and Margaret Bourke-White, as well as many obscure figures. With great warmth, he describes the obstacles they overcame and explains why their images are memorable. --Cathy Curtis Until recently, many photohistorians have overlooked women photographers and their important contributions to the early years of the medium. Pulitzer Prize nominee Sandler (American Image: Photographing 150 Years in the Life of a Nation) here balances this uneven history, reexamining the established literature to show that, from the beginning, women have been actively shaping the history of this art form. Similar history books exist, the most popular being Naomi Rosenblum's A History of Women Photographers. But where Rosenblum's comprehensive tome takes a chronological approach to the study of women in photography, Sandler concentrates on American photography and the historical movements within the medium. He includes chapters on portraiture, photography as art, the documentary eye, and landscape and nature. Included are nearly 175 illustrations by well-known artists such as Berenice Abbott, Imogen Cunningham, and Margaret Bourke-White. Sandler also introduces several lesser-known women artists who have made equally strong contributions to American photography. Highly recommended for all collections. Shauna Frischkorn, Millersville Univ., PA Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. Martin W. Sandler is the author of more than twenty books, two of which have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Sandler's most acclaimed photography book to date is the 1989 American Image: Photographing 150 Years in the Life of a Nation , a companion to the PBS series and a selection of the Book of the Month Club.