Magnificent Women and their Revolutionary Machines

(Paperback)

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Women have won their political independence. Now is the time for them to achieve their economic freedom too.

This was the great rallying cry of the pioneers who, in 1919, created the Womens Engineering Society. Spearheaded by Katharine and Rachel Parsons, a powerful mother and daughter duo, and Caroline Haslett, whose mission was to liberate women from domestic drudgery, it was the worlds first professional organisation dedicated to the campaign for women's rights.

Magnificent Women and their Revolutionary Machines tells the stories of the women at the heart of this group from their success in fanning the flames of a social revolution to their significant achievements in engineering and technology. It centres on the parallel but contrasting lives of the two main protagonists, Rachel Parsons and Caroline Haslett one born to privilege and riches whose life ended in dramatic tragedy; the other who rose from humble roots to become the leading professional woman of her age and mistress of the thrilling new power of the twentieth century: electricity.

In this fascinating book, acclaimed biographer Henrietta Heald also illuminates the era in which the society was founded. From the moment when women in Britain were allowed to vote for the first time, and to stand for Parliament, she charts the changing attitudes to womens rights both in society and in the workplace.

Reviews

• 'A fascinating social history' Times Literary Supplement
• 'Well-written, vigorous... shows how Britain's female engineers were key figures in modernisation' BBC History Magazine
• 'At its heart, this is a group biography of the Women's Engineering Society... Yet Henrietta Heald also spins her story outward, taking in the ways in which the society's members became pioneers not just in engineering and technology but also politics, suffrage and social reform' History Revealed
• 'Meticulously researched... provides a fascinating account of a century of change for women' Journal of SMEE

Author Bio

Henrietta Heald is the author of William Armstrong, Magician of the North which was shortlisted for the H. W. Fisher Best First Biography Prize and the Portico Prize for non-fiction. She was chief editor of Chronicle of Britain and Ireland and Readers Digest Illustrated Guide to Britains Coast. Her other books include Coastal Living, La Vie est Belle, and a National Trust guide to Cragside, Northumberland.