The Most Undeserving Case

The author asks you: Is this a story of the longest standing oppression in the history of humanity?
...thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. - Genesis 3:16 - c. 1600 BCE.
...the male is by nature superior, and the female inferior... - Aristotle - c. 340 BCE.
...even the most undeserving case will win if there is no one to testify against it. - Christine de Pizan. 1405 CE.
...have they not all violated the principle of equality of rights by quietly depriving half of mankind of the right to participate in the formation of the laws...? - Nicolas de Condorcet - 1790 CE.
...the adoption of this system of inequality never was the result of deliberation, or forethought, or any social ideas, or any notion whatever of what conduced to the benefit of humanity or the good order of society. - J.S. Mill - 1869 CE.
...All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. - Declaration of Human Rights - 1948 CE.
The format of the book is encyclopaedic. Each chapter follows on from the previous one but also is an episode in its own right.
... that our descendants, by becoming more learned, may become more virtuous and happier, and that we do not die without having merited being part of the human race. - Denis Diderot - 1750 CE.