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The history of the world has been told in objects. But what about the objects that tell the history of women? What are the items that symbolise the journey of women from second-class citizens with no legal rights, no vote and no official status to the powerful people they are today? And what are the objects that still oppress women, even now? From the corset to the contraceptive pill, the bones of the first woman to Rosa Parks's mugshot and the iconic Mary Quant cape, A History of Women in 100 Objects documents the developing role of women in society through the lens of the inanimate objects that touched women's lives, were created by women or that at some time – perhaps even still – oppressed them. Woven by two leading historians, this complex, fascinating and vital tale of women and womanhood is told with a lightness of touch and depth of experience that will appeal to all those interested in women's history.
Suffragettes learned jiu-jitsu, repelled policemen with their hatpins, burnt down football stadiums and planted bombs. They rented a house near to Holloway Prison and sang rebel anthems to the Suffragettes inside. They barricaded themselves into their homes to repulse tax collectors. They arranged mass runs on Parliament. They had themselves posted to the Prime Minister, getting as far as the door of No. 10. Indomitable older members applied for gun licences to scare the government into thinking they were planning a revolution. Rebels. Warriors. Princesses. Prisoners. Pioneers. Here are 101 of the most extraordinary facts about Suffragettes that you need to know.
Historically seen as figures of pity and foreboding – poverty stricken receivers of charity, tragic figures dressed in black and even sometimes sexually voracious predators or witches – widows have been subject to powerful stereotypes that have endured for centuries. But for many women, widowhood unfolded into a vastly more complex story. From being property of men and housekeepers – the owners of nothing – they found themselves suddenly enfranchised, empowered and free to conduct themselves however they wished. From suffrage campaigners and politicians, to entrepreneurs and newly self-made women, the effect of widows' might can be seen throughout history. In Widows historians Maggie Andrews and Janis Lomas pull together the stories of fascinating women, both famous and unknown, and their exploits after being widowed. They show how throughout history widows have carried on with everyday life in the face of poverty or isolation, their struggles for political power and the ways that many of them have contributed to improving the lives of women today.
The unlikely history of women's empowerment through widowhood
'Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.' These words, spoken at war memorials across the United Kingdom and around the world on 11 November every year, encapsulate how we commemorate our war dead. Lest We Forget looks at how we remember not only those who died in battle, but also those whose memory is important to us in other ways. This wide-ranging review considers such topics as Holocaust Memorial Day, the Hillsborough Disaster, memories of the Spanish Civil War, the genocide in Rwanda, Diana, Princess of Wales and the role of the Cenotaph and the National Memorial Arboretum. With an endorsement from The Royal British Legion, which celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2011, this is a timely study, and is relevant not only to people in the United Kingdom, but recognises the universal need to remember.
On the morning of 22 September 1914, just six weeks into the First World War, three Royal Navy armoured cruisers were sunk by a German U-boat in the southern North Sea. The action lasted less than 90 minutes but the lives of 1,459 men and boys were lost – more than the British losses at the Battle of Trafalgar or in the sinking of RMS Lusitania. Yet, curiously, few have ever heard of the incident. The Coal Black Sea tells the extraordinary true story of the disaster from the perspectives of the men serving on HMS Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy, and the German submariners who orchestrated the attack. It also examines how the ignominious loss provoked widespread criticism of the highly ambitious First Lord of the Admiralty, the 39-year-old Winston Churchill. While the families of the victims grieved, Churchill succeeded in playing down the significance of the disaster and shifted the blame to those serving at sea to save his faltering career. Using a range of official and archival records, Stuart Heaver exposes this false narrative and corrects over a century of misinformation to honour those who lost their lives in the worst naval catastrophe of the First World War.
Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries is a celebration of unheard and under-heard women’s history. 'Excellent . . . bursting with extraordinary women' – Anita Anand 'Brilliant' – Daisy Buchanan “My hope is that this book will inspire as I have been inspired. It’s a love letter to the importance of history and about how, without knowing where we come from - truthfully and entirely - we cannot know who we are.” Within these pages you’ll meet nearly 1000 women whose names deserve to be better known: from the Mothers of Invention and the trailblazing women at the Bar; warrior queens and pirate commanders; the women who dedicated their lives to the natural world or to medicine; tho...
The Second World War widows were the ' forgotten women', largely ignored by the government and the majority of the population. The men who died in the service of their country were rightly honoured, but the widows and orphans they left behind were soon forgotten. During the war and afterwards in post-war austerity Britain their lives were particularly bleak. The meagre pensions they were given were taxed at the highest rate and gave them barely enough to keep body and soul together, let alone look after their children. Through their diaries, letters and personal interviews we are given an insight into post-war Britain that is a moving testament to the will to survive of a generation of women. The treatment of these war widows was shameful and continued right up to 1989. This is their story.
With the declaration of war in September 1939, the Government Evacuation Scheme was implemented, in which almost one and a half million civilians, mostly children, were evacuated from the British cities thought most likely to be the targets of aerial bombing. The fear of invasion the following year resulted in another mass evacuation from the coastal towns.Hundreds of thousands of school children, and mothers with babies and infants, were removed from their homes and families, and sent to live with strangers in distant rural areas and to entirely unfamiliar environments. Some children were also sent to countries of the Commonwealth, such as Canada and Australia. The evacuations had an enormo...
Erika Kuhlamn focusses on the war and postwar experiences of people, based on letters, diaries, magazine articles, and correspondences between widows and their governments. The author offers a comparison between a victorious and a defeated nation: the United States and Germany.