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“A wonderful idea, executed with enviable elegance.” - Lucy Worsley. “A precious book. With Daisy Dunne's elegant and vibrant retelling of history, women of the ancient world are back at the center of the story of classical antiquity. It was a real pleasure to read.” - Peter Frankopan. Spanning 3,000 years, from the birth of the Minoan civilization in Crete to the death of the Julian Claudian dynasty in Rome, this book is a fascinating new history of the ancient world told, for the first time, through women. For centuries, men have written the history of antiquity filled with warlords, emperors and kings. But when it came to including women alongside Cleopatra and Boudica, writers were more comfortable describing mythical heroines rather than real heroines. While Penelope and Helen of Troy are still present in the imagination, their counterparts in reality have been marginalized. In The Missing Thread, Daisy Dunn turns this tradition on its head, placing women of history at the heart of the narrative. These pages introduce us to Enheduanna, the oldest known writer, Sappho the poet, and Telesilla, who defended her city against attack. Here are Artemisia, the only female commander in the Greco-Persian Wars, and Sinisca, the first woman to win the Olympic Games. Cleopatra may be more famous, but Fulvia, Mark Antony's wife, fought a war on his behalf. Many other women remain anonymous, but they are an integral part of history. Through fresh study of the sources, combined with lively storytelling, Daisy Dunne shows us the ancient world with new eyes, and introduces us to a fascinating group of ancient women, the weavers of an entire world.