'The Ascent Of Woman' is an erudite account by Melanie Phillips of the fight for female suffrage: both a story of social and sexual revolutionary upheaval, and of a fascinating battle of ideas that continues apace today.
It is a movement that had its origins in the French revolution, with its calls for liberty and equality inspiring the work of Mary Wollstonecraft. It grew as the philanthropy of the nineteenth century propelled women from the drawing room to the public sphere, exposing the sexual discrimination at the heart of public life.
'The Ascent Of Woman' chronicles the rise of the suffragette movement, and the subsequent split between the constitutionally minded suffragists led by Millicent Fawcett and the militant suffragettes led by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst. Phillips describes how the violent activities of the latter both helped and hindered the cause, and how it was the role of women in the First World War that played a crucial role in finally securing them the vote.
