One of the themes of the 2013 Edinburgh International book festival is women in the 21st century - but we are looking further back to discover what lessons can be learned from the women of earlier periods.
Kari Herbert made her first polar expedition as a 10-month-old baby with her explorer parents Wally and Marie Herbert. Drawing on personal letters and little-known public archives she pieces together a history of arctic and antarctic exploration as seen through the wives of the public heroes - determined and courageous women like Emily Shackleton and Kathleen Scott, whose key roles in their husbands' success have never been publicly recognised.
Judith Mackrell looks at a different sort of courage and determination in her portrait of six celebrity flappers from the 1920s - from Scott Fitzgerald's wife Zelda to artist Tamara de Lempicka and jazz icon Josephine Baker.
Plus we eavesdrop on the shortlisting party for the Guardian chidren's fiction prize.
Reading list:
Heart of the Hero by Kari Herbert
Flappers: Six Women of a Dangerous Generation by Judith Mackrell
