{"product_id":"a-dirty-filthy-book-9780753559932","title":"A Dirty Filthy Book","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLondon, 1877. A petite young woman stands before an all-male jury, about to risk everything. She takes a breath, and opens her defence.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnnie Besant and her confidant Charles Bradlaugh are on trial for the sordid crime of publishing and selling a birth control pamphlet. Remarkably  forty-five years before the first woman will be admitted to the English bar  Annie is defending herself. Before Britain's highest judge she declares it is a woman's right to choose when, and if, to have children. At a time when women were legally and socially subservient to men, Annie's defiant voice was a sensation. The riveting trial scandalised newspapers, captivated the British public and sparked a debate over morals, censorship and sex.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on unpublished archives, private papers and courtroom transcripts  and featuring an incredible cast including Queen Victoria, George Bernard Shaw and London itself  \u003ci\u003eA Dirty, Filthy Book\u003c\/i\u003e tells the gripping story of a forgotten pionee\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMakes the case for Annie Besant as a truly eminent Victorian, as brilliant and fearless as she was beautiful . . . [A] witty and entertaining account\u003c\/b\u003e * The Times, Book of the Week *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDrawn from newspaper accounts, court records, and Besant's own memoir, Meyer's depiction of Besant fighting for reproductive rights, almost 150 years ago, is truly marvellous . . . Meyer succeeds admirably in his efforts to bring to light the story of a truly remarkable and courageous woman \u003c\/b\u003e -- Kate Lister * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichael Meyer has mined the rich seams of history and woven together a fascinating and gripping narrative. Beautifully told\u003c\/b\u003e, it has echoes for today. I don’t know how he does it -- Adam Hochschild, author of KING LEOPOLD'S GHOST\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnnie Besant was a freethinker and a half – an indomitable woman who challenged many of the discriminatory views of her day and put all her energies into social change. A great read\u003c\/b\u003e -- Prof. Helen Pankhurst CBE, Women’s Rights Campaigner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHugely entertaining, told with verve and humour, with a riveting court trial at its heart. \u003c\/b\u003eA \u003cb\u003eterrific\u003c\/b\u003e study of the Victorian controversy and criminalisation of contraception and the dire consequences for women of confusing medicine with morals. \u003cb\u003eAt last, Annie Besant has found a champion equal to the task of doing justice to her crusading life and the significance of her achievements. \u003c\/b\u003eVictorian patriarchy denied Besant her rightful place in political history: Michael Meyer has reinstated her, in all her glorious complexity, as \u003cb\u003ethe pioneering feminist changemaker in Britain's history of morals, censorship and sex\u003c\/b\u003e -- Rachel Holmes, author of SYLVIA PANKHURST and ELEANOR MARX\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAt a time when reproductive rights are being rolled back globally, as well as worryingly close to home, [Besant's] story needs retelling until its message is set in stone\u003c\/b\u003e * Guardian *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ebury Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48865769881943,"sku":"9780753559932","price":15.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780753559932.jpg?v=1722275479","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/a-dirty-filthy-book-9780753559932","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}