The writing of New Zealand history had been dominated by male historians, who tended to focus on issues such as politics and war, spheres from which women were generally excluded. But under the influence of feminism, a generation of important New Zealand women historians emerged in the 1980s and 1990s. Here are three of the books which marked their appearance. On the left is a collection, Women in history, edited by Barbara Brookes (a lecturer at the University of Otago), Charlotte Macdonald (who was soon to join Victoria University of Wellington) and Margaret Tennant (at Massey University), which appeared in 1986. It was so successful that a sequel, seen on the right, appeared in 1992. Behind is Sandra Coney's Standing in the sunshine, which was published in 1993 to mark the centenary of women's suffrage, and included some path-breaking research on New Zealand women's experience and social history.