Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW AND THE NEW YORKER • A vibrant portrait of four college friends—Iris Murdoch, Philippa Foot, Elizabeth Anscombe, and Mary Midgley—who formed a new philosophical tradition while Oxford's men were away fighting World War II.

The history of European philosophy is usually constructed from the work of men. In Metaphysical Animals, a pioneering group biography, Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman offer a compelling alternative. In the mid-...