Emily Wilding Davison was the most famous suffragette to die in the battle for women's rights, after colliding with the King's horse at the Epsom Derby in 1913, but who was she, and how did she end up dying for her cause? Her notorious final act of protest has for decades obscured her extraordinary life. Now, one hundred years on from the first British women winning the vote, this new biography reveals the story of the respectable governess who pivoted towards vandalism and violence in pursuit of female enfranchisement. Times journalist Lucy Fisher draws on the suffragette's own words, contemporary press reports and academic scholarship to paint a vivid picture of Davison's unusual tale and tragic finale.
On Wednesday 4 June 1913, fledgling newsreel cameras captured just over two-and-a-half minutes of neverto-be-forgotten British social and sporting history. The 250,000 people thronging Epsom Downs carried with them a quartet of combustible elements: a fanatical, publicity-hungry suffragette; a scapegoat for the Titanic disaster and the pillar of the Establishment who bore him a personal grudge; a pair of feuding jockeys at odds over money and glory; and, finally, at the heart of the action, two thoroughbred horses - one a vicious savage and one the consummate equine athlete. Taken together, this was a recipe for the most notorious horse race in British history. One hundred years on, this particular Derby Day is remembered for two reasons: the fatal intervention of Emily Davison, a militant suffragette who brought down the King's runner, and the controversial disqualification of Bower Ismay's horse Craganour on the grounds of rough riding - the first and only time a Derby-winner has forfeited its title for this reason. The sensation of Davison's questionable interference in the name of suffrage has overshadowed the outrage of Craganour's disqualification and the intricate reasons behind it. Now, with a view to allowing this scandal the attention it deserves, Michael Tanner replays the most dramatic day in Turf history - and finally uncovers the truth of the Suffragette Derby.
Look through fresh eyes at the stories of some of history's most remarkable women, in this inspiring collection of short stories by the finest female authors writing historical fiction for children today - The History Girls. Subjects include: Queen Boudicca, Aethelfled, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Julian of Norwich, Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth Stuart, Aphra Behn, Mary Wollestonecraft, Mary Anning, Mary Seacole, Emily Davison, Amy Johnson and the Greenham Common women.
Marking the centenary of female suffrage, this definitive history charts women's fight for the vote through the lives of those who took part, in a timely celebration of an extraordinary struggle An Observer Pick of 2018 A Telegraph Book of 2018 A New Statesman Book of 2018 Between the death of Queen Victoria and the outbreak of the First World War, while the patriarchs of the Liberal and Tory parties vied for supremacy in parliament, the campaign for women's suffrage was fought with great flair and imagination in the public arena. Led by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia, the suffragettes and their actions would come to define protest movements for generations to come. From their marches on Parliament and 10 Downing Street, to the selling of their paper, Votes for Women, through to the more militant activities of the Women's Social and Political Union, whose slogan 'Deeds Not Words!' resided over bombed pillar-boxes, acts of arson and the slashing of great works of art, the women who participated in the movement endured police brutality, assault, imprisonment and force-feeding, all in the relentless pursuit of one goal: the right to vote. A hundred years on, Diane Atkinson celebrates the lives of the women who answered the call to 'Rise Up'; a richly diverse group that spanned the divides of class and country, women of all ages who were determined to fight for what had been so long denied. Actresses to mill-workers, teachers to doctors, seamstresses to scientists, clerks, boot-makers and sweated workers, Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English; a wealth of women's lives are brought together for the first time, in this meticulously researched, vividly rendered and truly defining biography of a movement.
Emily was angry. She worked as hard as any man, but she couldn't change laws that affected her - laws made by men. Because women didn't have the right to vote. She and her fellow suffragettes had patiently put their argument to the government, but they were ignored. Now it was time for direct action: arson, bricks through windows, hiding overnight in the House of Commons. Over and over again she was thrown into prison and brutally force-fed. It would take something shocking to bring the government to its senses. At the Derby race-course, as the King's horse came pounding towards her, Emily was prepared to make the biggest sacrifice of all...
‘An important contribution to our recent history’ ANDREW MARR ‘Absorbing and important’ JOAN BAKEWELL ‘One of my favourite reads of 2021’ GARETH RUSSELL
It is 1913, nine years after the end of A Little Princess saw Sara Crewe escape Miss Minchin's orphanage. Lottie, the smallest girl from the original story, learns about the Suffragette movement from Sara, who returns to visit from time to time. Soon Lottie finds herself sneaking out of the orphanage to attend a demonstration, in defiance of her cold, distant father. A father who has a secret to hide about her own missing mother... It's a story about lost mothers turning up in unexpected situations, the power of friendship and female empowerment.
An exquisitely illustrated history of the women's suffrage movement, created by the New York Times-bestselling David Roberts and introduced by BBC presenter Lauren Laverne. It is over a century since the first women won the vote in the United Kingdom, and Suffragette tells the story of their fight. This is a tale of astounding bravery, ingenuity and strength. David's writing is accessible and his artwork full of rich detail, bringing to life the many vivid characters of the women's suffrage movement – from the militant activist and wheelchair user Rosa May Billinghurst to the world-famous Emmeline Pankhurst, Millicent Fawcett and Emily Wilding Davison. Covering the whole range of female and male suffragist experiences – from aristocrats to the middle and working class as well as a look at the global struggle for universal suffrage, Suffragette: The Battle for Equality makes a fantastic introduction to a fascinating topic. David Roberts' exquisite artwork and clear, exceptionally well-researched text make this the perfect gift. This 128 page book is fully colour illustrated on every page, and has been completed with advice from June Purvis, Emeritus Professor of Women's and Gender History at the University of Portsmouth.
