A History of Britain in 21 Women A Personal Selection Synopsis
I was ten years old when I came across Boadicea, and she became the first woman to make me realise that the designated future of a girl born in 1950 - to be sweet, domesticated, undemanding and super feminine - was not necessarily the case. Boadicea battled the Romans. Nancy Astor fought in Parliament. Emmeline Pankhurst campaigned for female suffrage. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became a pioneering physician in a man's profession. Mary Quant revolutionised the fashion industry. Britain has traditionally been defined by its conflicts, its conquests, its men and its monarchs. It's high time that it was defined by its women.
'Murray chooses twenty-one women who changed the world, and tells their remarkable stories with her own extraordinary wit, passion and piercing insight. She is the perfect guide.' Helen Castor
'I can't think of any more seductive way of learning about the past than meeting its principals as if they were friends in a room. That's the gift that Jenni Murray gives us; a rare gift because these principals are women. If someone in every country were to write a book like this, scholars might finally admit there are two things - history and the past - and they are not the same.' Gloria Steinem
'I was fascinated by this well-researched, informative and entertaining book. I knew the names of many of the women among its pages, but not their stories and it was wonderful to read about them via Jenni Murray's warm and well-written prose. Entertaining, enjoyable and scholarly.' Elizabeth Chadwick, bestselling author of the Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy
Author
About Jenni Murray
Jenni Murray started her career in local radio in Bristol. She has presented Newsnight on BBC2 and Today on Radio 4 before inheriting the Woman's Hour Chair from Sue MacGregor in 1987. She was awarded an OBE in 1999 for services to broadcasting.
