This book follows the roots of women's struggle for equal pay, equal status, and equal respect back to that fateful, eye-opening day -- when Eve met a Serpent by a Tree, and shared an Apple with Adam instead of enjoying it without him. How did Eve (and then all women) become a scapegoat for "The Fall of Man"? What "spin" on this story made women seem to deserve being held down or back, to be suspected -- and often even suspect themselves -- of devious intents or deeds? Who fashioned such spin, and how? And why did we ever buy into it? Melinda Rising's research into the gnarled roots of sexism and misogyny in our culture -- from the Book of Genesis through early Church history, the Crusades, heretic hunting, the Inquisitions, witch hunts, and on into our own century -- is startling, inspiring, and ultimately healing. Understanding this story, and seeing what still haunts contemporary women, may be an essential key for progress toward real gender equity in our time.