Home › Books › Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel
Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel
by
60/99
Critics
46/99
Readers
n/a
Scholars
36/99
Rating
84/99
Volume
83/99
Rating
8/99
Volume
—
Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.
About This Book
On the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, the definitive biography of suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst-political rebel, human rights champion, and radical feminist ahead of her time. Sylvia Pankhurst fought militantly for a woman's right to vote, inspiring movements around the globe. But the vote was just the beginning. A talented artist, a free-spirit, a visionary, Sylvia was seen as "wild," even by the standards of her activist mother and sister. She became a radical feminist, committing herself to the fight for reproductive rights, equal pay, access to welfare and education, and freedom of sexual expression. She converted her experiences of torture, imprisonment, and violence into a lifelong quest to champion human rights. Encompassing both World Wars and lasting through the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Pankhurst's political life was international in scope; it included Irish independence, pacifism, the rights of refugees, and the fight against racism in Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and colonial Africa. Her United States lecture tours made headlines and connected her with both American feminists and the NAACP. She spent her life in dialogue, dispute, and resolution with Winston Churchill, Vladimir Lenin, Jomo Kenyatta, Haile Selassie, Harriot Stanton Blatch, and W.E.B. DuBois. And she wrote about it all, prolifically. In this enthralling biography, acclaimed author Rachel Holmes interweaves Pankhurst's rebellious political and private lives to show how her astonishing achievements continue to resonate today.
Preview
Reviews
"History buffs will be mesmerized."
"It's impossible to summarise adequately a book so magnificent."
"This is a moving, powerful biography of a woman whose desire to connect 'with all the world' is an inspiration for our uncertain times."
"Cultural historian Rachel Holmes describes Pankhurst's all-consuming activism – which resulted in multiple imprisonments, during which she endured brutal forced feedings – in her excellent and admiring new biography, Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel ..."
"Rather than dwelling on moods and relationships, Holmes is interested in ideas and consequences."
"Potentially seismic quarrels tend to be reported then resolved in the space of a few lines, with little attention paid to the erosions and ambivalences that shape dynamics over a lifetime of shared experience ..."
Reader Reviews
0 reviewsSign in to write a review.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first!