It is hardly surprising, considering the nature of my life’s work, that I should favour books, factual and fictional, that retrieve women from the dustbin of history and restore them to their rightful place.

Professor Janet Todd was first in a line of academics who recognised early in their careers that there were great numbers of important women who had been overlooked by historians and embarked on a mission to bring them to light. She has given us biographies of writers including Aphra Behn and Jane Austen. The one I often return to is Mary Wollstonecraft: A Revolutionary Life, which explores the author’s complex psychology and terrible choices when it came to men. It’s compellingly written, too.

Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith is the only novel whose plot twist surprised me so much that I actually jumped out of my chair and shrieked: “Oh no!” The main characters in this gripping story set in Victorian London are both orphans and victims of low-life cruelty: Sue is raised in a Dickensian den of thieves; Maud lives with her uncle, who has her catalogue his collection of pornography. Lesbian love finally conquers all.

Philippa Gregory’s novels never disappoint. A historian fascinated by England’s royal women, she writes vividly about their lives, filling in the historical gaps by imagining what might have happened. Most recently I read The Last Tudor – a controversial portrait if, like me, you are a huge admirer of Elizabeth I. It tells the story of the three Gray sisters – Jane, Katherine and Mary – who were the most likely contenders for the throne. Jane, of course, was queen for just nine days before being executed. Her sisters, too, suffered terribly, as Elizabeth was jealous, determined and vindictive. At the same time as challenging Elizabeth’s reputation, the novel is a fascinating exposition of the lives of lesser-known women.

Jealous, determined and vindictive … Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).

Photograph: Universal/Stu/REX/Shutterstock

Mary Beard has become something of a star when it comes to bringing classical history to life. She exposes the roots of today’s expectations of how a woman should behave. Women & Power: A Manifesto is a small but wonderfully potent call to action. With references to mythological figures such as Perseus, Medusa, Philomela and Telemachus, she shows how often we’ve been told that “Speech will be the business of men” and that a woman who breaks this rule may risk having her tongue cut out. Time for change, she argues – and now!

Patricia Duncker, professor of contemporary literature at the University of Manchester, brought James Miranda Barry to my attention in 1988. We’ve long assumed that Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman in Britain to qualify as a doctor. Not so, as Patricia Duncker’s eponymous novel explains. In the early 19th century, posing as a young man, Barry studied medicine in Edinburgh. She spent the rest of her life as a surgeon in the army, living all the while as a man. Her true sex was only discovered as her body was cleansed and laid out. She appeared to at some point have had a baby.

Jacky Fleming is the wonderful cartoonist whose Be a Bloody Train Driver and Never Give Up have had me laughing over the years. In her latest book, The Trouble with Women, she ask questions such as: “Can women be geniuses or are their arms too short?”, and “Why did we only learn about three women at school? What were the others doing?” Good questions!

• A History of the World in 21 Women: A Personal Selection by Jenni Murray is published by Oneworld.