Barbara Brookes is Professor of History at the University of Otago whose research, writing and teaching have contributed significantly to new perspectives on women’s history. Her first book, from her PhD thesis undertaken at Bryn Mawr College, Abortion in England, 1900-1967, (1988, reissued by Routledge in 2013) explored the issue of illegal abortion from the perspective of women, the legal and the medical professions, and the movement towards reform of the law.

Since her publication, Barbara has published extensively; both internationally and in New Zealand, particularly on areas where the history of women and the history of medicine intersect. Her most recent publications include the international co-edited collection with Tracy Penny Light and Wendy Mitchinson, Bodily Subjects: Essays on Gender and Health, 1800-2000 (2014) and her groundbreaking A History of New Zealand Women (2016).