The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (2014)

The story of the comic book super hero, from long before she was created in 1941, up to the 1970s.

Book Review: The Secret History of Wonder Woman has to do with a lot more than just the title hero. The reader will encounter suffrage and the women's movement, birth control, lie detectors, BDSM, the evolution of comic books, censorship, and much more. The reader will hear about the lineage, the creative family life, and the unusual theories of the super hero's creator, and yes, the marvelously complex Wonder Woman is in there somewhere as well (starting on page 186). It's a quick enjoyable read, solid pop history, passionate in part because the author can't get enough of the kinky stuff. Without that, I doubt this book would've been written. Lepore is a reliable Wonder Woman defender, finding cultural significance wherever possible, although recognizing the ways that her character can be problematic. It's good enjoyable fun all the way (if the reader doesn't mind the plentiful detours). With the recent release of the highly successful film, there will be some new fans eager to search out The Secret History of Wonder Woman. If they accept (or skim) the sections dealing with Lepore's broad picture, only a few will be disappointed. But as is typical with pop history, there are a few annoyances along the way. First, Lepore's claims for the significance of Wonder Woman in achieving women's rights in America seem a wee bit overblown. My opinion is that women would still have established their numerous accomplishments, even if Wonder Woman had never existed (although we all would've been much the poorer for it). Second, the author often speculates wildly without providing any support for her conjectures: "maybe it was then that he told her ... maybe he even went to the movies ... he may have ... or maybe ... ." And maybe all these unfounded speculations are wrong. In fact, Lepore acknowledges in the Epilogue, that at least one of her speculations was incorrect, so why were we making so many unsourced speculations? Similarly, the author relies heavily on sources that she acknowledges are unreliable -- so why such reliance? And finally, straying so far afield from the main story line will annoy the heck out of some readers (not me, though) -- just a warning. None of these flaws are crippling, they're just not good tools for a historian. But The Secret History of Wonder Woman is meant to be fun history, so just sit back and enjoy the ride.  [3½★]