The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was the most controversial militant branch of the British women's suffrage movement. From 1903-1918, WSPU members made numerous public speeches, both in rented halls and in the open air, and many were brought to trial for their political activities. This collection of speeches and trial transcripts documents the WSPU from its founding through its turn to violent tactics to the winning of the vote in 1918. An introduction to each section summarizes Union activity over discrete periods, outlining the major verbal arguments and images for that time frame. These introductions, combined with the speeches and several trial transcripts, provide a chronological view of WSPU history.

In these speeches, Emmeline Pankhurst and other leading militant suffragists defend themselves against the charges of damaging city property in their attempt to publicize the issue of women's suffrage. They illustrate the complexity of the issue and the ambivalence of the court which found them guilty of damaging city property yet acknowledged the virtues of the cause for which they were fighting.

Freedom or Death is a speech by Emmeline Pankhurst delivered at Hartford, Connecticut - November 13, 1913. It was later transcribed and issued as a pamphlet. The speech was dedicated to the issues of suffrage movement.

In the years leading up to the First World War, the United Kingdom was subjected to a ferocious campaign of bombing and arson. Those conducting this terrorist offensive were members of the Women's Social and Political Union; better known as the suffragettes. ??The targets for their attacks ranged from St Paul's Cathedral and the Bank of England in London to theatres and churches in Ireland. The violence, which included several attempted assassinations, culminated in June 1914 with an explosion in Westminster Abbey.??Simon Webb explores the way in which the suffragette bombers have been airbrushed from history, leaving us with a distorted view of the struggle for female suffrage. Not only were the suffragettes far more aggressive than is generally known, but there exists the very real and surprising possibility that their militant activities actually delayed, rather than hastened, the granting of the parliamentary vote to British women.

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