Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography

by June Purvis

Overview

Emmeline Pankhurst was perhaps the most influential woman of the twentieth century. Today her name is synonymous with the 'votes for women' campaign and she is remembered as the most brave and inspirational suffrage leader in history. In this absorbing account of her life both before and after the campaign for women's suffrage, June Purvis documents her early political work, her active role within the suffrage movement and her role as a wife and mother within her family.
This fascinating full-length biography of Emmeline Pankhurst, the first for nearly seventy years, draws upon new approaches to feminist biography to place her within the context of her family and friends. It is based upon an unrivalled range of primary sources, including personal interviews with her surviving family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134341917
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/02/2003
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	480
File size:	945 KB

About the Author

June Purvis

Table of Contents

1. Childhood and Young Womanhood 2. Marriage and entry in to Political life 3. Political Hostess 4. Social and public Representative 5. Widowhood and Employment 6. Foundation and early years of WSPU 7. To London 8. Autocrat of the WSPU? 9. Emmeline and Christabel 10. 'A New and More Heroic Plane.' 11. Personal Sorrow and Fortitude 12. The Truce Renewed 13. The Women's Revolution 14. Break with the Pethick Lawrences 15. Honorary Treasurer of the WSPU and Agitator 16. Prisoner of the Cat and Mouse Act 17. Ousting of Sylvia and a Fresh Start for Adela 18. Fugitive 19. War work and a second Family 20. War Emissary to Russia: Emmeline versus the Bolsheviks 21. Leader of the Women's Party 22. Lecturer in North America and Defender of the British Empire 23. Last Years: Conservative Parliamentary candidate. 24. Niche in History.

Editorial Reviews

Here is a fresh, engaging and provocative study of this puzzling, passionate and controversial figure...both an accessible introduction ot the general reader and an informed and informative discussion for the specialist in the field. Not everyone will agree with all of the conclusions, but now, at last, readers are provided with a breadth of material and interpretation that will allow them to make up their own minds.

Sandra Holton

Emmeline Pankhurst and her fellow suffragettes were far and away the most militant feminists in Great Britain in the early 20th century. They smashed windows, spent months in jail, and endured such extreme hunger strikes that the government resorted to force feeding them. And their militancy worked. Under Pankhurst's leadership, the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) won the parliamentary vote for women in Great Britain. Purvis, frustrated by previous historians' attempts to diminish Pankhurst's achievements, offers a detailed account of the WSPU leader's daring approach to militancy and argues that partial enfranchisement would not have been granted in 1918 without Pankhurst's leadership. "What is frequently overlooked," says Purvis, "is that Emmeline and her militants changed the way in which women were perceived by people generally, including politicians." The narrative occasionally gets bogged down in stiff prose and too much detail to maintain an easy forward momentum; nevertheless, the book offers a needed revisionist view of a bold and charismatic feminist leader. Suitable for academic libraries. Amy Strong, South Portland, ME Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

'What Purvis does for Emmeline Pankhurst in her new biography is to provide a detailed, scrupulous, excellently researched retelling of the story, and thus offer a vindication of the woman.' - Michael Foot, The Guardian

'The product of careful and thorough research, offering in many respects an important corrective to established views ... Purvis has tracked down surviving letters in many scattered collections, as well as patiently trawling through newspaper reports of Emmeline's speeches, and gaining exclusive access to the late Jill Craigie's collection of suffrage material' - Mark Bostridge, Times Literary Supplement

'[T]he story has all the things that should make for gripping biography - spirited women, nice clothes, a noble goal, the ghastly thrill of physical torture...There is no doubt that Purvis's biography is expert, accomplished and perhaps most important, acutely aware of the way in which historical reputations are made and remade according to who is doing the telling...not an especially jaunty read, but an important one.' - Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Times

'Purvis's work has involved 10 years of research in innumerable archives on both sides of the Atlantic and Australia. Her sources embrace letters, newspapers and other ephemera; fascinating, particularly the anatomy of militancy.' - Scotland on Sunday

'[A]n exercise in rehabilitation ... Pankhurst does at last get the biography she deserves - and, it is to be hoped, her place in the political pantheon.' - The Scotsman

'What Purvis does for Emmeline Pankhurst in her new biography is to provide a detailed, scrupulous, excellently researched retelling of the story, and thus offer a vindication of the woman.' - Michael Foot, The Guardian

'The product of careful and thorough research, offering in many respects an important corrective to established views ... Purvis has tracked down surviving letters in many scattered collections, as well as patiently trawling through newspaper reports of Emmeline's speeches, and gaining exclusive access to the late Jill Craigie's collection of suffrage material' - Mark Bostridge, Times Literary Supplement

'The book offers a needed revisionist view of a bold and charismatic feminist leader.' - Library Journal

From the Publisher