A fresh,opinionated history of all the brilliant women you should have learned about in school but didn't.
In this freewheeling,feminist history of modern Britain,Channel 4 journalist Cathy Newman explores the motivations of the women who played a crucial role in the dramatic transformations that took place in British women's lives from the mid-nineteenth century onward.
While a few of them are now household names,many more have faded into oblivion. We know of Emmeline Pankhurst,Vera Brittain,Marie Stopes and Beatrice Webb,but who,outside of academic circles,remembers engineer and chain-smoking motorbike racer Beatrice Shilling,whose device for the Spitfires'Rolls-Royce Merlin engines made the RAF's planes as performant as the Luftwaffe's Or Dorothy Lawrence,the journalist who achieved her ambition to become a First World War correspondent by pretending to be a man And the developmental biologist Anne McLaren,whose work in genetics paved the way for in vitro fertilisation
Bloody Brilliant Women is an engaging,chatty book that seeks to restore these pioneering women to their place in British history. Blending meticulous research with information gleaned from memoirs,diaries,letters,novels and other secondary sources,it tells the story of the first and second waves of feminism,a story shaped by the vagaries of class,money and the century's momentous events,and which could not have happened without the stepping stones laid by the Mary Wollstonecrafts,Mary Carpenters and Octavia Hills of previous centuries.
Publisher: HarperCollins PublishersISBN: 9780008241674Number of pages: 384Weight: 300 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 25 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Newman is a riveting teller of history. We are given an insight into the lives of women from Queen Victoria to the suffragists and suffragettes fighting for franchise,political pioneers and present day female advocates of the arts...A celebration of women who helped shape modern Britain - as entertaining as it is enlightening...Newman is a brilliant writer; each chapter throws up something even more interesting than the last and the prose shifts seamlessly between them...I could read a whole second volume.'- Hannah Jane Parkinson,The Observer
'Modern,punchy and fresh. A pacy compendium of fascinating nuggets.'- Katie Glass,The Sunday Times
'For far too long,women's achievements have been airbrushed out of history. In this groundbreaking book,the first of its kind,Cathy Newman has done a bloody brilliant job of painting them back in bright,vivid colours. She has repaid the debt due by all of us to women pioneers of the past and created a treasure trove of inspiration for women of today and tomorrow. I just wish this book had been written when I was growing up.'- Nicola Sturgeon
'Powerful,poignant and often provoking - this book shines a light on the contribution of women of all ages,ethnicities,faiths and backgrounds who have helped to make our city and country so great. Cathy Newman narrates the stories of women who have helped shape the world in which we live today,by challenging gender stereotypes,smashing glass ceilings and blazing a trail for the next generation to follow. Eloquently written and hugely enjoyable to read.'- Sadiq Khan,Mayor of London
'Brilliant,enlightening,and a powerful reminder of the extraordinary and sustained courage of the women who fought against overwhelming odds for equality of opportunity,for rights and respect. This book is so important. No library,no school or university,should be without a copy.'- Michael Morpurgo
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