Emmeline Pankhurst A Biography

Emmeline Pankhurst, a middle-class mother of five from Manchester, England, changed history when, in 1903, she formed the Women's Social and Political Union. Under her fiery and unorthodox leadership, this militant group-given to church burning, window smashing, and royal slurs-won the parliamentary vote for women.
Today, Pankhurst is immortalized for the defiance and strength that led the suffrage movement to victory and made her a twentieth-century heroine. Who was she, before and after suffrage, and how did her actions influence the Second Wave of feminists in the 70s?
Historian June Purvis, with vivid language and a storyteller's skill, brings this celebrated leader to life in the context of her times. In the first full-length biography in seventy years, Purvis utilizes a host of original sources to paint the fullest picture yet of Pankhurst: from young womanhood and political awakening to her war work and activism until her death in 1928. Here too is the passion, fear, kindness and invincibility that have made this twentieth-century everywoman one of the most influential people of our time. "Emmeline Pankhurst" brings a vibrant new understanding to her life.

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.

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.

June Purvis