Angela V. John – författare

The opposition of men to women's suffrage is well-known. However, men's support for women's suffrage is a neglected subject. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, over one thousand men were prepared to join societies and actively work for women's suffrage, whilst many other men offered support. The Men's Share?, edited by Angela John and Claire Eustance, examines who these men were, how they organized themselves and how they put pressure on the government.

The pit brow lasses who sorted coal and performed a variety of jobs above ground at British coal mines prompted a violent debate about women’s work in the nineteenth century. Seen as the prime example of degraded womanhood, the pit brow woman was regarded as an aberration in a masculine domain, cruelly torn from her ‘natural sphere’, the home. The, attempt to restrict women’s work at the mines in the 1880s highlights the dichotomy between the fashionable ideal of womanhood and the necessity and reality of female manual labour.Although only a tiny percentage of the colliery labour force, the pit lasses aroused an interest out of all proportion to their numbers and their work became a test case for women’s outdoor manual employment. Angela John discusses the implications of this debate, showing how it encapsulates many of the ambivalences of late Victorian attitudes towards working-class female employment, and at the same time raises wider questions both about women’s work in industries seen as traditionally male enclaves, and about the ways in which women within the working community have been presented by historians.This book was first published in 1980.

The opposition of men to women's suffrage is well-known. However, men's support for women's suffrage is a neglected subject. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, over one thousand men were prepared to join societies and actively work for women's suffrage, whilst many other men offered support. The Men's Share?, edited by Angela John and Claire Eustance, examines who these men were, how they organized themselves and how they put pressure on the government.

The pit brow lasses who sorted coal and performed a variety of jobs above ground at British coal mines prompted a violent debate about women’s work in the nineteenth century. Seen as the prime example of degraded womanhood, the pit brow woman was regarded as an aberration in a masculine domain, cruelly torn from her ‘natural sphere’, the home. The, attempt to restrict women’s work at the mines in the 1880s highlights the dichotomy between the fashionable ideal of womanhood and the necessity and reality of female manual labour.Although only a tiny percentage of the colliery labour force, the pit lasses aroused an interest out of all proportion to their numbers and their work became a test case for women’s outdoor manual employment. Angela John discusses the implications of this debate, showing how it encapsulates many of the ambivalences of late Victorian attitudes towards working-class female employment, and at the same time raises wider questions both about women’s work in industries seen as traditionally male enclaves, and about the ways in which women within the working community have been presented by historians.This book was first published in 1980.

This is the first biography of a remarkable writer and incorrigible rebel. Evelyn Sharp’s story encapsulates the shifts in opportunities for talented Victorian women who survived into the mid-twentieth century.She was born into a privileged family in 1869 and became a very popular writer of schoolgirl fiction. Extremely versatile, she also produced fairy tales alongside stories for the infamous ‘Yellow Book’. A Manchester Guardian journalist for over four decades, Evelyn Sharp became the first regular contributor to its iconic Women’s Page. Before and during the First World War she was a leading suffragette, editing the newspaper, ‘Votes for Women’.This biography draws on Evelyn Sharp’s publications, as well as letter and diaries vividly describing experiences such as famine relief in Soviet Russia and daily life in wartime Kensington for and elderly woman. It will be of interest to gender and social historians as well as to those interested in children’s and women’s literature.

Called ‘the king of Correspondents’, Henry W. Nevinson (1856-1941) captured the political zeitgeist in his newspaper journalism and books about conflicts across the globe. He provided astute, first-hand observations on events such as war between Greece and Turkey, the Siege of Ladysmith in South Africa, the aftermath of the 1905 Russian Revolution and the Gallipoli tragedy in the First World War, his copy obtained in perilous situations.He bravely exposed the persistence of slavery in Angola, unrest in India and conflict in Ireland, his vivid and exquisite prose shocking and enlightening British readers. He cultivated controversy with his brave stance on issues like women’s suffrage and the self-determination of small nations such as Georgia. His first wife, Margaret Wynne Nevinson, was a suffragette and writer, their son the celebrated artist C.R. W. Nevinson. In the 1920s Henry Nevinson accompanied Ramsay MacDonald on the first visit of a British Prime Minister to an American President. His perspectives, whether on the Middle East, the Balkans, Russia or the United States, illuminate many of the conflicts which resonate in today’s uncertain world.

Called the "King of Correspondents" Henry W. Nevinson (1856-1941) captured the political zeitgeist of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Covering conflicts across the globe, the British war correspondent commented on war in Greece, the Siege of Ladysmith, the aftermath of revolution in Russia in 1905-6 and the tragedy at Gallipoli, helping to shape understanding of world affairs at the time. He also campaigned for rights in Angola, Ireland and India. At home he was a strenuous advocate of women's suffrage. Nevinson was the first to report sympathetically on Germany's devastation after the First World War. In the 1920s he accompanied Ramsay MacDonald on the first visit of a British Prime Minister to an American President. Although courting the establishment, Nevinson cultivated controversy as a rebel. Yet he remained a highly admired journalist and was a vivid and acute observer who wrote exquisite prose. Drawing on Nevinson's private diaries which span nearly 50 years, Angela V.John captures, for the first time, the story of a figure whose perspectives whether on the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East or the United States, illuminate many of the conflicts which resonate in today's uncertain society.

This rich biography tells the remarkable tale of Margaret Haig Thomas who became the Second Viscountess Rhondda. She was a Welsh suffragette, held important posts during the First World War and survived the sinking of the Lusitania. A leading British industrialist, she was also instrumental in securing a seat for women in the House of Lords.Closely associated with figures such as Winifred Holtby, Vera Brittain and George Bernard Shaw, she founded and edited the weekly paper Time and Tide, which dazzled British society with its cutting-edge perspectives. It championed progressive views on women’s rights in the 1920s, became a leading literary space for women and men from the thirties onwards and a respected political commentator on national and international affairs.Drawing upon a rich array of sources, many previously unused, Angela V. John explores both the public achievements and the fascinating private world of one of the movers and shakers of British society in the first half of the twentieth century.

First published in 1959, this innovative narrative - a mix of 'poet's novel' and 'whodunnit' - is set in the fictional valleys town of Cilhendre at the time of the Lock Out that followed the General Strike of May 1926.

Philip Burton (1904-95) is best remembered as the schoolmaster responsible for training and transforming his pupil Richard Jenkins into Richard Burton, world- famous star of stage and screen. Together they produced a remarkable symbiosis. The stage-struck Philip Burton was present behind the scenes for the rest of the actor's life, intervening at crucial moments to ensure consummate stage performances in, for example, Coriolanus, Hamlet and Camelot. This biography, drawing upon a number of previously unseen sources, provides a fresh angle on this compelling story.And by placing Philip Burton's story centre stage, a remarkable figure also emerges in his own right. In a life that virtually spanned the twentieth century, he demonstrated resilience and transatlantic triumph against the odds.Like his best-known protege, he was born into an impoverished South Wales mining family. Alongside teaching, he acted, wrote and produced plays and in 1945, with wireless at its height, he became a BBC radio producer. He worked on almost 200 radio programmes, encouraging newcomers and producing work by Dylan Thomas. He wrote scripts for the fledgling television and penned its first 'soap.'Reinventing himself in the mid-1950s, Philip Burton moved to the United States where, after dabbling in the film industry and working as a theatre director, he became the inspirational first director of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. He took American citizenship and travelled across the States, delivering sparkling Shakespearean lecture-recitals. He published five books, living in Key West, Florida from the 1970s. Philip Burton died in 1995 aged ninety, his expertise and encouragement having enabled numerous aspiring actors and writers to flourish on both sides of the Atlantic.

Philip Burton (1904-95) is best remembered as the schoolmaster responsible for training and transforming his pupil Richard Jenkins into Richard Burton, world- famous star of stage and screen. Together they produced a remarkable symbiosis. The stage-struck Philip Burton was present behind the scenes for the rest of the actor's life, intervening at crucial moments to ensure consummate stage performances in, for example, Coriolanus, Hamlet and Camelot. This biography, drawing upon a number of previously unseen sources, provides a fresh angle on this compelling story.And by placing Philip Burton's story centre stage, a remarkable figure also emerges in his own right. In a life that virtually spanned the twentieth century, he demonstrated resilience and transatlantic triumph against the odds.Like his best-known protege, he was born into an impoverished South Wales mining family. Alongside teaching, he acted, wrote and produced plays and in 1945, with wireless at its height, he became a BBC radio producer. He worked on almost 200 radio programmes, encouraging newcomers and producing work by Dylan Thomas. He wrote scripts for the fledgling television and penned its first 'soap.'Reinventing himself in the mid-1950s, Philip Burton moved to the United States where, after dabbling in the film industry and working as a theatre director, he became the inspirational first director of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. He took American citizenship and travelled across the States, delivering sparkling Shakespearean lecture-recitals. He published five books, living in Key West, Florida from the 1970s. Philip Burton died in 1995 aged ninety, his expertise and encouragement having enabled numerous aspiring actors and writers to flourish on both sides of the Atlantic.

This is a new edition of a book that was originally published in 1991 as the first of its kind, written when women's history in Wales was in its infancy. The chapters range widely across time (1830-1939) and place, from exploring working class women's community sanctions and the perils of being a collier's wife to the very different lifestyles of ironmasters' wives. It also tackles the idealised images of respectable Welsh women in periodicals and the tragic reality of those who committed suicide as well as the transgressive actions of suffrage rebels.

This is the first biography of a remarkable writer and incorrigible rebel. Evelyn Sharp’s story encapsulates the shifts in opportunities for talented Victorian women who survived into the mid-twentieth century.She was born into a privileged family in 1869 and became a very popular writer of schoolgirl fiction. Extremely versatile, she also produced fairy tales alongside stories for the infamous ‘Yellow Book’. A Manchester Guardian journalist for over four decades, Evelyn Sharp became the first regular contributor to its iconic Women’s Page. Before and during the First World War she was a leading suffragette, editing the newspaper, ‘Votes for Women’.This biography draws on Evelyn Sharp’s publications, as well as letter and diaries vividly describing experiences such as famine relief in Soviet Russia and daily life in wartime Kensington for and elderly woman. It will be of interest to gender and social historians as well as to those interested in children’s and women’s literature.

This insightful and revealing collection of essays focuses on seven Welsh women who, in a range of imaginative ways, resisted the status quo in Wales, England and beyond during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.