The Pankhursts - Martin Pugh

"We never went to prison in order to be martyrs. We went there in order that we might obtain the right of citizenship. We were willing to break laws that we might force men to give us the right to make laws" - Emmeline Pankhurst.;Outspoken, defiant and seemingly fearless, under the leadership of Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst the militant suffragettes took the Votes for Women debate to the streets and more than any other social movement revolutionized the notion of Victorian womanhood.;"The Pankhursts" is the first full account of the careers and controversies surrounding Emmeline and her three daughters in over 33 years. Martin Pugh's meticulous research makes use of neglected archive material and eye-witness accounts to examine the tense relationships, the tortured political disagreements and alliances, and the very public victories and defeats that marked the lives of this sometimes dysfunctional, but always exceptional, family. Pugh exposes the inner workings of the suffragette movement - its militaristic style, its links with the British establishment, its success in raising funds from wealthy supporters and its capacity to withstand two and a half years of suppression by the government.;But this book goes beyond the campaign for the women's vote to explain why the Pankhursts abandonded the women's movement during the First World War and reinvented themselves as government propagandists. It reveals the extent of Emmeline's establishment role during her visit to Russia between the two revolutions of 1917. For the first time it explains Christabel's astonishing reincarnation in the 1920s as a Second Adventist and explores the tragic breakdown in relations between Emmeline and Sylvia, and the exile of Adela, the youngest daughter, to Australia.;"The Pankhursts" is a vivid portrait of the triumphs and tragedies of four extraordinary women.