This book was a really interesting read indeed, I have to admit I had never heard of this group all mainly from the Yorkshire area. Fighting for a good cause that was such a big issue, these guys were from a relatively unknown background. This book was really good and I’m hoping to read bit further from some of the information in the bibliography section at the back of the book. The book seemed quite detailed and I would have thought the book was very well researched by the author Paul L. Dawson. I would certainly recommend this book to others.
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
The Battle Against Slavery
Monday, April 11, 2022
Not So Virtuous Victorians
Not So Virtuous Victorians written by Michelle Rosenberg and published by Pen & Sword Books - £12.99 - Softcover - Pages 112
Each generation loves to think it is better than the last and loves to look aghast at the horrifying trends of their ancestors. But are we really any different? This glimpse at life for Victorian men and women might make millennials think again.
Men and women were expected to live very differently from one another with clearly defined roles regardless of class. However, lift the skirts a little and not only will you see that they didn’t wear knickers but they were far less repressed than the persistent stereotypes would have us believe. The Victorians were as weird and wonderful as we are today.
From fatal beauty tips to truly hysterical cures for hysteria to grave robbers playing skittles with human bones, we have cherry picked some of the more entertaining glimpses into the lives led by our Victorian brothers and sisters.
This is a small book that looks at alternative little bits of life in Victorian Britain, looking at Child Labour, Sex & Perversion, Hidden Sexualities and Fashion Victims. The chapters are small but the book entertaining, good and quite humorous in places. Maybe a book for people wanting to start getting into learning about the Victorian era.
Sunday, April 3, 2022
The Great Miss Lydia Becker
The Great Miss Lydia Becker written by Joanna M Williams and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 328
Brought up in a middle-class family as the eldest of fifteen children, she broke away from convention, remaining single and entering the sphere of men by engaging in politics. Although it was considered immoral for a woman to speak in public, Lydia addressed innumerable audiences, not only on women's votes, but also on the position of wives, female education and rights at work. She battled grittily to gain academic education for poor girls, and kept countless supporters all over Britain and beyond abreast of the many campaigns for women's rights through her publication, the Women's Suffrage Journal.
Steamrollering her way to Parliament as chief lobbyist for women, she influenced MPs in a way that no woman, and few men, had done before. In the 1860s the idea of women's suffrage was compared in the Commons to persuading dogs to dance; it was dismissed as ridiculous and unnatural. By the time of Lydia's death in 1890 there was an acceptance that the enfranchisement of women would soon happen. The torch was picked up by a woman she had inspired as a teenager, Emmeline Pankhurst, and Lydia's younger colleague on the London committee, Millicent Fawcett. And the rest is history.
I can honestly say that since reviewing books for Pen & Sword Books, I have learnt so much more about history and individuals and in particular women’s history and the roles of women throughout history and the importance they play. Having learnt a lot about history at university, I am learning so much from Pen & Sword books like this one about The Great Miss Lydia Becker. Lydia Becker who might have gone unnoticed had she not moved to Manchester was a staunch supporter of women’s rights and suffrage in the mid-1800s from employment, to equal rights, to living & working conditions, to voting eligibility for women. Lydia Becker and her like in the women’s suffrage movement were all strong motivated women who would stand their ground and demand their rights. What comes through in this book is how much women from the north have been undervalued, and yet they are some of the strongest and most determined women you could find. This is a really well-written book by the author Joanna Williams, I’ve enjoyed the whole book and the bibliography at the back is an excellent one I shall be following up on and reading further. A very good book indeed.
The Battle of Reichswald - Rhineland - February 1945
The Battle of the Reichswald Rhineland - February 1945 written by Tim Saunders and published by Pen & Sword Books - £22 - Hardback - Pag...
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The Battle of the Reichswald Rhineland - February 1945 written by Tim Saunders and published by Pen & Sword Books - £22 - Hardback - Pag...
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The Welsh Braveheart - The Last Prince of Wales written by Phil Carradice and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20.00 - Hardback - Pages...
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Battle - Understanding Conflict from Hastings to Helmand written by Graeme Callister & Rachael Whitbread published by Pen & Sword Bo...