Fourth Estate snaps up 'bold and radical' book on roots of patriarchy by journalist Saini

Fourth Estate has snapped up a “bold and radical” book in search of the true roots of patriarchy by science journalist Angela Saini. 

Louise Haines, publishing director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for The Patriarchs: How Men Came To Rule from Peter Tallack at The Science Factory. Fourth Estate will publish in March 2023 and Beacon Press will publish in the US.

The book uncovers a complex history of how patriarchy first became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present. The publisher said: “These origins of patriarchy have been oddly neglected in recent years and yet they are crucial to our understanding of inequality and why our societies are the way they are.” 

Travelling to the world’s earliest known human settlements, analysing the latest research findings in science and archaeology, and tracing cultural and political histories from the Americas to Asia, Saini overturns simplistic universal theories to show that what patriarchy is and how far it goes back really depends on where you live. 

Despite all the pushback against sexism, abuse and discrimination in our own time, even revolutionary efforts to bring about equality have often ended in failure and backlash. Saini ends by asking what part we all play— women included—in keeping patriarchal structures alive, and why we need to look beyond the old grand narratives to understand how it persists in the present. 

Haines said: “A phenomenal book that changed overnight the way I think about power, and the human need to exert it. Angela has written a global history in which it is especially fascinating how colonialism and empire spread patriarchal customs across Asia, Africa and the Americas.” 

Saini added: “I’m deeply grateful for the support that Fourth Estate and my wonderful editor Louise Haines have shown me. This is my third book with them and the most challenging. To fully tackle modern-day inequality, we have to understand its roots. How human societies became patriarchal is a monumental question. I only hope I’ve done it justice. The last few years of writing, travel and research have certainly transformed my understanding of gender and oppression and renewed my faith in our radical capacity for change.”