Sylvia Pankhurst

The Suffragette: The History of the Women's Militant Suffrage Movement Sylvia Pankhurst First Edition, First edition

Brief Description: Originally published: Sturgis & Walton Company, New York, 1911. Biographical Note: Sylvia Pankhurst was a feminist, Communist, and anti-Fascist activist in Great Britain during the period before World War I. She and her mother, Emmeline Pankhurst, and her sister, Christabel Pankhurst, were active in the suffragette movement from 1906 to 1914. Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Franchise League and the Women's Social and Political Union. "Time" magazine deemed her among the most important figures of the twentieth century, and she is recognized as one of the most influential suffragettes in the United Kingdom and the United States. She was integral to the militancy of the movement, encouraging vandalism, trespass, and hunger strikes insupport of the cause."Marc Notes: Originally published: Sturgis & Walton Company, New York, 1911.; Includes index. Publisher Marketing: By 1903, more thanfifty years of peaceful campaigning had brought British women no closer to attaining the right to vote. In that year activist Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union, a militant organization dedicated to achieving women's suffrage. The union's motto, "Deeds not words," reflected its radical approach, consisting of stone-throwing, window-breaking, arson, and physical confrontation with authorities."The Suffragette, " written by Emmeline Pankhurst's daughter, Sylvia, offers an insider's perspective on the union's growth and development as well as the motives and ideals that inspired its leaders and followers. She chronicles the protesters' tactics as well as the consequences of their actions: arrests, imprisonment, hunger strikes, and the mental and physical ordeals of forced feeding. Vintage photographs illustrate the demonstrations, courtroom trials, and other dramatic incidents from the history of the women's militant suffrage movement."

Contributor Bio:  Pankhurst, Emmeline Emmeline Pankhurst (nee Goulden; 15 July 1858 - 14 June 1928) was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote. In 1999 Time named Pankhurst as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating: "she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back." She was widely criticized for her militant tactics, and historians disagree about their effectiveness, but her work is recognized as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in Britain.