By 1913 Marshall was uniquely placed as a lobbyist, with inside information and sympathetic listeners in every party. Through her the dynamically re-organized NUWSS brought the women's suffrage issue to the fore of public awareness. It pushed the Labour Party to adopt a strong stand on women's suffrage and raised working-class consciousness, re-awakening a long-dormant demand for full adult enfranchisement. Had the general election due in 1915 taken place, NUWSS financial and organizational support for the Labour Party might well have been substantial enough to influence the final results. These impressive achievements were forgotten by the time Catherine Marshall died in 1961. Even recent research on the period has failed to show the full significance of the issue of women's suffrage, much less Marshall's part in the movement. Jo Vellacott's revealing account of Marshall's political work also includes vivid descriptions of a liberal Victorian childhood, a strangely purposeless young adulthood, and the heady experiences of women who, through the awakening of political consciousness, forged a lifestyle to fit their new aspirations.
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
"Vellacott's illuminating story tells of the life and work of a woman who made an important contribution to suffrage -- and later to peace-activism ... and contains outstanding research on an important topic." Deborah Gorham, Department of History, Carleton University. "The book's significant new contribution is its 'insider' perspective, based on the author's exemplary, definitive analysis of the huge archive of Catherine Marshall papers -- a source never so thoroughly worked before ... The author is clearly the world authority on this material ... and her work is, in addition to its contribution to British political history, a real addition to the growing corpus of British women's biography." Sybil Oldfield, School of Cultural and Community Studies, University of Sussex. "Vellacott's study of Catherine Marshall blends admirably the political history of the Edwardian period, surveyed until now almost exclusively from a perspective of males, with the new dimensions of women's history.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By chloem
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
A detailed biography of a significant character, Catherine Marshall, set in the context of her time the early 20th century up to WW1,and class. It's an enjoyably warm, human tale of Catherine's growing up and education in the Lake District, and her and her mother's interests, such as stopping fox-hunting.
This is a fine, detailed reference work, in providing biographical notes about the many characters, primary sources, and index. It shows us the turbulence of the times for reform across a much wider spectrum than merely the vote, as well as why having the entitlement to vote (and stand for Parliament) mattered. It is contains a clear account of the shifts within the suffrage movements (for women and me), the important distinctions that are often overlooked in contemporary references to "suffragettes". The intertwining of politics, political parties and emerging support for widening the suffrage, to women and men, is described in an absorbing way. While the passage of women's suffrage was truncated by the declaration of war, this book stops at 1914 and thus stops short of showing how the war was used to deflect women's efforts for suffrage, or indeed, for peace. After 1914 and during WW1, Catherine worked exhaustively for the No Conscription Fellowship. Readers may be interest in another Vellacott biography of Bertrand Russell's who devoted his work during WW1 to the No Conscription Fellowship.
The recent book (2011) To End All Wars by Adam Hochschild also tells complex stories about loyalty, dissent, and reform but through a number of well developed characters and their relationships in an easy readable of this period, and acknowledges Vellacott's scholarship. I'd recommend reading Hochschild's new book as we inch towards a centenary of WW1.
This is a fine, detailed reference work, in providing biographical notes about the many characters, primary sources, and index. It shows us the turbulence of the times for reform across a much wider spectrum than merely the vote, as well as why having the entitlement to vote (and stand for Parliament) mattered. It is contains a clear account of the shifts within the suffrage movements (for women and me), the important distinctions that are often overlooked in contemporary references to "suffragettes". The intertwining of politics, political parties and emerging support for widening the suffrage, to women and men, is described in an absorbing way. While the passage of women's suffrage was truncated by the declaration of war, this book stops at 1914 and thus stops short of showing how the war was used to deflect women's efforts for suffrage, or indeed, for peace. After 1914 and during WW1, Catherine worked exhaustively for the No Conscription Fellowship. Readers may be interest in another Vellacott biography of Bertrand Russell's who devoted his work during WW1 to the No Conscription Fellowship.
The recent book (2011) To End All Wars by Adam Hochschild also tells complex stories about loyalty, dissent, and reform but through a number of well developed characters and their relationships in an easy readable of this period, and acknowledges Vellacott's scholarship. I'd recommend reading Hochschild's new book as we inch towards a centenary of WW1.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Gay & Lesbian
- Books > Biography > Historical > 1901 Onwards
- Books > Biography > Historical > Britain > 1901 Onwards
- Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > Europe
- Books > Biography > Political > Britain > Labour & Socialism
- Books > Biography > Women
- Books > Gay & Lesbian > Political & Social Issues > Activism
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland
- Books > History > World History
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics > Countries & Regions > UK > Elections
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics > Political Structure & Processes > Elections & Referendums
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Women's Studies
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
