Last Word is the popular BBC Radio 4 series broadcast weekly, featuring the lives of several famous people who have recently died. More than standard obituaries, the lives are summarised with narration and include interviews with some of those who knew them. The programme was first broadcast in 2006 and this compelling anthology commemorates the remarkable and revealing lives of 80 women who were illuminating, inspiring or moving. Their names may not always be well known, but their lives made an impact on the world, and they broke new ground in many different ways. The book includes: \n\nLt Islam Bibi – Helmand’s top female police officer, shot dead by the Taliban \nNaty Revuelta Clews – Fidel Castro’s mistress \nNaomi Sims – first Black supermodel \nSylvia Robinson – The ‘mother of hip-hop’ who was the founder/CEO of Sugar Hill records \nRosalia Mera – Zara founder, the world’s richest self-made woman \nMarie Colvin – celebrated war reporter killed in Homs \nClare Hollingworth – first war correspondent to report the outbreak of the Second World War \nEileen Nearne – wartime spy who was captured and tortured by the Gestapo \nSalome Karwah – Ebola survivor who went back to Liberia to nurse other sufferers \nJo Cox – MP murdered in her own Yorkshire constituency \nJill Saward – rape survivor and campaigner for victims of sexual abuse \nScharlette Holdman – ‘The Angel of Death Row’ who fought against the death penalty in the US \nJeanne Cordova – former nun who became a lesbian rights activist \nFrancis Kelsey – pharmacologist who prevented the licence of Thalidomide in the US \nMargaret Rule – archaeologist who raised the Mary Rose \nCountess of Arran – powerboat racer, ‘the fastest granny on water’