A Dirty, Filthy Book

Sex, Scandal, and One Woman’s Fight in the Victorian Trial of the Century

• Author(s): Michael Meyer,
• Publisher: Random House
• Pages: 400
• ISBN_10: 0753559951
  ISBN_13: 9780753559956
  
• Language: en
• Categories: History / Social History , Social Science / Abortion & Birth Control , History / Europe / Great Britain / Victorian Era (1837-1901) , History / Women , Social Science / Feminism & Feminist Theory , Biography & Autobiography / Women , Biography & Autobiography / Social Activists , Biography & Autobiography / Historical , Law / Legal History , Political Science / Civil Rights , History / Europe / Great Britain / General , Health & Fitness / Women's Health , Political Science / Political Process / Political Advocacy ,

Description:...

London, 1877. A petite young woman stands before an all-male jury, about to risk everything. She takes a breath, and opens her defence.

Annie 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.

Drawing on unpublished archives, private papers and courtroom transcripts – and featuring an incredible cast including Queen Victoria, George Bernard Shaw and London itself – A Dirty, Filthy Book tells the gripping story of a forgotten pioneer who refused to accept the role the Establishment assigned to her. Instead, she chose to resist.