Book Description

The third set in this successful series focuses on four iconic female political figures from the Victorian era. Although women were excluded from the political franchise, many individuals were highly influential in public life, not least the Queen who gave her name to the period. This four-volume facsimile edition draws together contemporary sources relating to Queen Victoria (1819-1901), Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), Annie Besant (1847-1933) and Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929).Wide-ranging political issues are addressed. Women's suffrage, birth control and female education were highly contentious topics as women sought to improve their legal, educational, political, marital and economic status. However, all four women also played significant roles in wider movements of the nineteenth century, including imperial expansion, the labour movement, secularism and sanitary reform.Carefully selected extracts from biographies, memoirs, diaries, private letters and other ephemera reveal how these iconic women were viewed by their contemporaries. The edition benefits from a general introduction, volume introductions, headnotes, endnotes and a consolidated index. It will be vital to those studying Nineteenth-Century Studies, Women's History, the History of Suffrage and the History of Nursing.