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 woman one of the most influential people of our time.