In her major early books "Women, Resistance and Revolution" (1972) and "Hidden from History" (1973), Rowbotham put her ideas into practice by examining the experience of women in radical and revolutionary movements in Cuba, Algeria, Vietnam, China, Russia, France and Britain from the 17th century to the 20th centuries. In her opinion, working within the established order has never brought women any advances, and only through revolutionary socialist movements have women made any social gains. Rowbotham has argued that though male revolutionaries are willing to accept women as partners as long as the revolution lasts, once the revolution is over, women are expected to return to their traditional roles.