"Hoffert makes a significant contribution to the study of the ideological origins of American feminism in her brilliant synthesis of the disparate elements that early American activists brought together to consolidate their intellectual progression beyond Republican motherhood...Scholars and students will turn to this work for many years." American Historical Review "[When Hens Crow] looks in an original way at the ideas of the first feminists...a pioneering work, written in a clear style and firmly grounded in recent scholarship on the history of discourse, poststructuralism, and sociolinguistics."-Journal of American History "...challenges conventional interpretations of the intellectual roots of the movement and provides new insights into the leaders' strategies for promoting their ideas." Illinois Historical Journal "...a highly readable survey that is compact and comprehensible in its treatment of the early women's rights movement in the US." Choice "Finally we have in one highly readable volume a compact yet comprehensive survey of the early women's rights movement in the United States."- Ruth Bloch, UCLA