Votes for Women

A century after the first women were given the vote in Britain, this remarkable book presents a wealth of observations by and about the leading protagonists of the suffrage movement, beautifully illustrated with their portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Combining the portraits of, and statements by, the leading figures on either side of the suffrage movement, this book brings to life the story of women's fight for the vote. Drawn from the wealth of written, recorded and published material relating to the suffragists and the suffragettes, a broad selection of quotations by early campaigners such as Barbara Bodichon, John Stuart Mill and Anne Knight illustrate the beginnings of the movement, while extracts from impassioned speeches and writings by the Pankhursts and their contemporaries shed light on the campaign as it progressed. Also crucial to the story are those who objected to the emancipation of women, many of whom are also featured here. The writer Hilaire Belloc, for example, disagreed fervently with his own mother, while Herbert Asquith, Liberal Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916, similarly rejected calls to grant women the vote. Reproductions of pamphlets and cartoons, as well as documents from the National Portrait Gallery's own archive, provide additional context to the story in this informative and highly illustrated publication.