During the 20th century, women experienced significant changes in their political, social and economic status within British society. This volume offers a detailed examination of the forces that influenced those developments. It identifies the range of factors, which helped to shift opinions and attitudes, and assisted in the continuing emancipation of women. Particular attention is given to the impact on women's lives of two World Wars, political, social, economic and educational reforms, technological change and evolving feminist ideas. The role played by key individuals is also examined. Finally, the book provides an overview of the progress achieved by women and questions the extent to which they have secured equality with men.

Combining evidence from primary research, with an emphasis on personal testimony, with work of specialist scholars in social, economic, political and cultural history, this study examines the changing meaning of femininity within the broad historical time periods of the 20th century. Each chronological chapter maps out developments for women at work, in the family, sexuality, education, feminism and other political movements.

The continuing under-representation of women in political and public life remains a matter of concern across a wide range of countries, including the UK and Ireland. Within the UK it is a topical issue as political parties currently debate strategies, often controversial, which will increase women's representation. At the same time, devolution has ushered in significant change in the level of women's representation in Scotland and Wales and improved representation for women in Northern Ireland. That such increases in women's representation in political institutions have been slow in coming is indisputable, given that full enfranchisement of women on equal terms with men was achieved in Ireland in 1921 and in the UK in 1928.

This is the first thematic book to explore the history of women throughout the entire twentieth century. Appropriate for 1st and 2nd year undergraduates studying 20th Century Britain, Women's History and interdisciplinary courses.

The historical novel has been one of the most important forms of women's reading and writing in the twentieth century, yet it has been consistently under-rated and critically neglected. In the first major study of British women writers' use of the genre, Diana Wallace tracks its development across the century. She combines a comprehensive survey with detailed readings of key writers, including Naomi Mitchison, Georgette Heyer, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Margaret Irwin, Jean Plaidy, Mary Renault, Philippa Gregory and Pat Barker.

Far more than a historical subcategory, women have been driving forces behind world war politics, global migration, maternal welfare, sexual revolution, and modern labor movements. In A Century of Women, renowned historian Sheila Rowbotham charts, decade by decade, the changes in the lives of women and the ways they themselves have uniquely shaped history since 1900. From women who marched for the vote, stood on picket lines, or refused to be segregated, to politicians, poets, and film stars, their stories are told in rich detail.Throughout the book are entertaining essays on body and image, popular fiction, lesbian culture, the automobile, Barbie dolls, and more; a final section gathers biographies of four hundred notable women. Thoroughly engrossing and unrivaled in scope, A Century of Women provides a wealth of information on the rich, complex, and tumultuous lives of the women who have left an indelible mark on our century.