Bluestockings: The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education - Hardcover

Robinson, Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670916846 ISBN 13: 9780670916849

Publisher: Viking, 2009

Synopsis

In 1869, when five women enrolled at university for the first time in British history, the average female brain was thought to be 150 grams lighter than a man's. Doctors warned that if women studied too hard their wombs would wither and die. When the Cambridge Senate held a vote on whether women students should be allowed official membership of the university, there was a full-scale riot.

Despite the prejudice and the terrible sacrifices they faced, women from all backgrounds persevered and paved the way for the generations who have followed them since. By the 1920s, being an 'undergraduette' was considered quite the fashionable thing; by the 1930s, women were emerging from universities as anything from aviation engineers to professional academics.

Using the words of the women themselves, Bluestockings tells their inspiring story - a story of defiance and determination, of colourful eccentricity and at times heartbreaking loneliness, as well as of passionate friendships, midnight cocoa-parties and glorious self-discovery.

About this title

Review:

'Jane Robinson's gem of a book ... tells a story of extraordinary courage and appalling discrimination ... Bluestockings is The History Boys for women' -- Frances Wilson, Sunday Times -- Frances Wilson, Sunday Times

'Modern girls need reminding of the long battle, and Jane Robinson's fine book does just that, charting the lives and struggles of campaigners ... But there is more joy than sorrow' -- Libby Purves, Mail on Sunday --Libby Purves, Mail on Sunday

'Jane Robinson is excellent on the determination of girls to go to university, sometimes in the face of parental opposition ... There is also riveting material in Bluestockings on the opposition that the women face at college' -- Mary Beard, The Times --Mary Beard, The Times

'Social history of the best kind' -- Sunday Times
-- Sunday Times

From the Back Cover:

'Inspiring, funny and thoughtful' Rosemary Hill, Guardian
'Warm and funny ... an education to us all' Independent on Sunday
At the end of the nineteenth century, when the female brain was considered five ounces lighter than the male brain, five women bravely enrolled at university for the first time in Britain.
From wildly different backgrounds and with only a passion for learning in common, they faced dismissal as mere 'bonnets' and wild rioting when a vote was taken to offer these 'undergraduettes' a recognised degree. But from teachers and parents they enjoyed unimaginable kindnesses.
Through the inspiring and moving words of the women themselves, Jane Robinson explores the sacrifices they made, the prejudice they met, and the determination, friendship and knowledge they found through their ground-breaking, hard-won educations.
'A story of widening horizons, lifelong friendships ... and, above all, the joy of learning' Economist
'Modern girls need reminding of the long battle, and Jane Robinson's fine book does just that' Libby Purves, Mail on Sunday
'Fascinating. Inspiring. Impassioned and wonderfully entertaining' Scotsman

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0670916846
• ISBN 13: 9780670916849
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 261