Women in British Politics, 1780-1860: The Power of the Petticoat

This groundbreaking volume examines women's political involvement from a variety of innovative angles. In addition to exploring literary sources and women's contribution to electoral processes, pressure group politics are examined in depth (including Jewish civil rights and the campaigns against the Corn Laws and Indian widow-burning). The attention to neglected aspects of women's political activity, such as religion, domesticity, European nationalism, empire, and lifestyle enable this book to challenge not only the historiography of Georgian and Victorian women, but also the nature of political history itself.