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Do men and women have a different approach to reading? Oxford academic and writer Dr Belinda Jack says the differences are many and fascinating. In The Woman Reader, she travels from the Cro-Magnon cave to today’s digital stores, crossing the world to tell the full story of women’s reading.

Women’s reading has been a cause of controversy across the ages, with many men fearing it would lead women to neglect their duties and even that it would make them sexually licentious. Jack explains how, despite this, there were always men and women who promoted women’s literacy and were often prepared to face considerable risk to do so. She also explores modern reading trends among men and women and censorship on reading in countries such as Iran.

Jack is tutorial fellow in French at Christ Church, Oxford. Previous works include George Sand: A Woman’s Life Writ Large and Beatrice’s Spell.