I am giving this four stars because whilst this IS an important book, I was disappointed seeing the authors reference wicca. Wicca was formulated in the 1950s Gerald Gardener, and I have always found it questionable that a man should have anything to do with defining any feminine belief system.

Earth, our Mother Goddess, is ANCIENT, and frankly, mentioning wicca in relation to this was really rather absurd.

As others have said, this is also rather Eurocentric and to a point I see WHY; Britain and Europe have been and continue to be responsible for the most horrific patriarchal violence as part of colonialism, so it makes sense from one angle that it is eurocentric, albeit unfortunate. The book claims patriarchy is roughly 4000 years old, but it is much, MUCH older than that. Given that the book was written in 1981, opinions on that timeline might well have changed on the authors' part, although they are both no longer with us.

All of that said, this book is extremely valuable in terms of knowledge, and history in terms of what has been ripped from us, and the utterly appalling effects of patriarchy. It has absolutely DESTROYED the world, and the parallels between the release of this book, and life as it is NOW, are incredibly relevant, and accurate with many of its predictions. It is an essential read.