Dirty secrets, wild romps, unruly behaviour, unapologetic rebels, wild seductresses and badasses galore ... history is HOT.

Did you know that women occupy only 0.5 per cent of the historical record? Diving into the lives of queens, witches, bitches and It Girls throughout the ages and how they slayed – from Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette and Mata Hari to the British PM’s secret weapon: Pamela Churchill Harriman – this is a fabulously illustrated compendium of those women (from the well known to the more obscure) who broke boundaries, rules and occasionally limbs, to carve out their place in the male-dominated history books.

From Alva Vanderbilt’s $6 million ball to Empress Sisi’s meat mask, we look at the boldest, most indecent and totally unruly things that pissed men off enough they simply HAD to write them down!