Njinga "The Warrior Queen" (The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Dastardly Dames)

This series of historical accounts profiles strong women who took extraordinary measures to achieve and maintain power—including murder, deception, and black magic—examining the women’s reputations in the context of their eras. Just how wicked were they? The books allow readers to decide for themselves if these infamous ladies were indeed heartless and evil or simply out of touch and making the most of their circumstances. Njinga, the Warrior Queen, fought fiercely to keep her West African people from slavery. Yet she engaged in slave trading herself, performed human sacrifices, and—some believed—murdered her nephew, the heir to the throne, and feasted on his heart. Though she was seemingly a terrifying tyrant, her other actions prove that she was also a freedom fighter.