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In 1903, five years after her husband died, Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), an all-women suffrage advocacy organization dedicated to deeds, not words. The group identified as independent from - and often in opposition to - political parties. It became known for physical confrontations: its members smashed windows and assaulted police officers. Pankhurst, her daughters, and other WSPU activists were sentenced to repeated prison sentences, where they staged hunger strikes to secure better conditions. As Pankhurst's eldest daughter Christabel took leadership of the WSPU, antagonism between the group and the government grew. Eventually the group adopted arson as a tactic, and more moderate organisations spoke out against the Pankhurst family. In 1913 several prominent individuals left the WSPU, among them Pankhurst's daughters Adela and Sylvia. Emmeline was so furious that she gave [Adela] a ticket, GBP20, and a letter of introduction to a suffragette in Australia, and firmly insisted that she emigrate, in which she complied. The family rift was never healed. Sylvia became a socialist. This is an autobiography of one of the great women of history.

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9781514872703

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Emmeline Pankhurst (nee Goulden; 15 July 1858 (Chambers Biographical states 1857) - 14 June 1928) was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote. In 1999 Time named Pankhurst as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating: she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back. She was widely criticized for her militant tactics, and historians disagree about their effectiveness, but her work is recognized as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in Britain.

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