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Product Description
Review
A gripping and rather magnificent new book (THE TIMES )
A richly detailed history. (DAILY TELEGRAPH )
This highly enjoyable history gives an excellent sense of the vivid feuds, ideological divides and disputes which fractured the enlivened the progressive Victorian feminist movement (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
[A book] shot through with Phillip s' customary clariy... [she] shows beautifully that the vote was really symbolic of a far wider range of issues on which women were struggling to find a public voice (EVENING STANDARD )
A richly detailed history. (DAILY TELEGRAPH )
This highly enjoyable history gives an excellent sense of the vivid feuds, ideological divides and disputes which fractured the enlivened the progressive Victorian feminist movement (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
[A book] shot through with Phillip s' customary clariy... [she] shows beautifully that the vote was really symbolic of a far wider range of issues on which women were struggling to find a public voice (EVENING STANDARD )
Book Description
* A riveting account of the passions behind the fight for female suffrage: both a story of social and sexual revolutionary upheaval and a fascinating battle of ideals that continues apace today.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
56 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Melanie Philips writes with great clarity and covers a broad subject admirably. It's an extremely readable book (I sat and read it in about three sessions) and you will certainly want to know more about some of the characters who have had such a strong impression on the women's movement. In fact, that's its only weakness, leaving you wanting more on some areas, but I guess the book would have had to be twice the length. As it is, it leaves you feeling ten times more informed about the women's movement and has a very thought-provoking final chapter. I entertained/bored my husband and friends for hours debating some of the issues raised.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This was a very interesting book to read and it is a shame that there aren't more books on this subject. Like the other review I would agree that it does leave you wanting to know more. There are so many questions: some of them are answered but, like other questions in history, some are not. The only qualm I had with this book was the fact that it wasn't long enough in my opinion and I found myself having too look up some of the less well-known people as the author didn't explain who they were. However this just may be my lack of knowledge on the time period and it shouldn't put you off reading the book. So it definitely gets five stars for me considering there aren't many other books like this to compare with.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I approached this book from a position of great interest but limited knowledge of the specifics of the movement, many of the individuals involved or much of the political context. I can safely say that this has been remedied to no small degree by reading the Ascent of Woman and I am certainly glad to have done so.
Having said that, I don't think I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, at least, I clearly struggled more than previous reviewers to `get into' it. I was initially discouraged by assumptions made by the author that the reader would be familiar with certain figures and/or political acts or movements referenced. Later I became mildly frustrated that the narrative was repetitive at times and, in discussing the period prior to 1900, not always chronological. At times, I was disappointed in the lack of details provided on a particular character or event. This is, no doubt a result of the vastness of the subject tackled by Ms Phillips, in so relatively short a book. It is not meant as a slight on the authors level of knowledge on the subject, which is clearly remarkable.
Personal sacrifice was perhaps played down in favour of a slightly more sterile, detached historical account of some of the more despicable treatment of women both prior to and during the militant period, as one might expect from an historian. However, not to such a degree as to leave one disengaged. On the contrary, the Ascent of Woman has inspired me to seek out more, and more detailed, accounts of some of the events and characters to whom I was introduced and I now feel like I do have the background information I previously lacked which will enable me to fully understand and connect with pieces on those aspects which I found most interesting. There are, sadly, pitifully few resources available on this subject, relative to other periods of British political and social history. And, whilst the Ascent of Woman may have focussed more on the political than on the personal or social than my own preference would have it, I have yet to find one more comprehensive and so, if you are willing to put a little effort into the read,I would certainly recommend this as a starting point from which to educate yourself on the subject.
Having said that, I don't think I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, at least, I clearly struggled more than previous reviewers to `get into' it. I was initially discouraged by assumptions made by the author that the reader would be familiar with certain figures and/or political acts or movements referenced. Later I became mildly frustrated that the narrative was repetitive at times and, in discussing the period prior to 1900, not always chronological. At times, I was disappointed in the lack of details provided on a particular character or event. This is, no doubt a result of the vastness of the subject tackled by Ms Phillips, in so relatively short a book. It is not meant as a slight on the authors level of knowledge on the subject, which is clearly remarkable.
Personal sacrifice was perhaps played down in favour of a slightly more sterile, detached historical account of some of the more despicable treatment of women both prior to and during the militant period, as one might expect from an historian. However, not to such a degree as to leave one disengaged. On the contrary, the Ascent of Woman has inspired me to seek out more, and more detailed, accounts of some of the events and characters to whom I was introduced and I now feel like I do have the background information I previously lacked which will enable me to fully understand and connect with pieces on those aspects which I found most interesting. There are, sadly, pitifully few resources available on this subject, relative to other periods of British political and social history. And, whilst the Ascent of Woman may have focussed more on the political than on the personal or social than my own preference would have it, I have yet to find one more comprehensive and so, if you are willing to put a little effort into the read,I would certainly recommend this as a starting point from which to educate yourself on the subject.
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