Jane Robinson – författare

Everyone knows three things about the Women''s Institute: that they spent the war making jam; the sensational Calendar Girls were WI; and, more recently, that slow-handclapping of Tony Blair. But there''s so much more to this remarkable Movement. Over 200,000 women in the UK belong to the WI and their membership is growing. They cross class and religion,include all ages -from students and metropolitan young professionals, such as the Shoreditch Sisters,to rural centenarians -with passions that range from supporting the 1920s Bastardy Bill (in response to a wartime legacy of illegitimate babies) to the current SOS for Honey Bees campaign.It was founded in 1915, not by worthy ladies in tweeds but by the feistiest women in the country, including suffragettes, academics and social crusaders who discovered the heady power of sisterhood, changing women''s lives and their world in the process. Certainly its members boiled jam and sang '' Jerusalem '', but they also made history. This fascinating book reveals for the first time how they are - and always were - a force to be reckoned with.

A quiet revolution has been sweeping through the writing of nursing history over the last decade, transforming it into a robust and reflective area of scholarship. Nursing History and the Politics of Welfare highlights the significant contribution that researching nursing history has to make in settling a new intellectual and political agenda for nurses.The seventeen international contributors to this book look at nursing from different perspectives, as it has developed under different regimes and ideologies and at different times, in America, Australia, Britain, Germany, India, The Phillipines and South Africa. They highlight the role of politics and gender in understanding nursing history and propose strategies for achieving greater recognition for nursing, and bringing it into line with other related health care professions.

A quiet revolution has been sweeping through the writing of nursing history over the last decade, transforming it into a robust and reflective area of scholarship. Nursing History and the Politics of Welfare highlights the significant contribution that researching nursing history has to make in settling a new intellectual and political agenda for nurses.The seventeen international contributors to this book look at nursing from different perspectives, as it has developed under different regimes and ideologies and at different times, in America, Australia, Britain, Germany, India, The Phillipines and South Africa. They highlight the role of politics and gender in understanding nursing history and propose strategies for achieving greater recognition for nursing, and bringing it into line with other related health care professions.

The ''Greatest Black Briton in History'' triumphed over the Crimea and Victorian England. "The Times" called her a heroine, Florence Nightingale called her a brothel-keeping quack, and Queen Victoria''s nephew called her, simply, ''Mammy'' - Mary Seacole was one of the most eccentric and charismatic women of her era. Born at her mother''s hotel in Jamaica in 1805, she became an independent ''doctress'' combining the herbal remedies of her African ancestry with sound surgical techniques. On the outbreak of the Crimean War, she arrived in London desperate to join Florence Nightingale at the Front, but the authorities refused to see her. Being black, nearly 50, rather stout, and gloriously loud in every way, she was obviously unsuitable. Undaunted, Mary travelled to Balaklava under her own steam to build the ''British Hotel'', just behind the lines. It was an outrageous venture, and a huge success - she became known and loved by everyone from the rank and file to the royal family. For more than a century after her death this remarkable woman was all but forgotten. This, the first full-length biography of a Victorian celebrity recently voted the greatest black Briton in history, brings Mary Seacole centre stage at last.

Brought to you by Penguin.You have probably not heard of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon but you certainly should have done.Name any ''modern'' human rights movement, and she was a pioneer: feminism, equal opportunities, diversity, inclusion, mental health awareness, Black Lives Matter. While her name has been omitted from too many history books, it was Barbara that opened the doors for more famous names to walk through. And her influence owed as much to who she was as to what she did: people loved her for her robust sense of humour, cheerfulness and indiscriminate acts of kindness.This is a celebration of the life of the founder of Britain''s suffrage movement: campaigner for equal opportunity in the workplace, the law, at home and beyond. Founder of Girton, the first university college for women, a committed activist for human rights, fervently anti-slavery, she was also one of Victorian England''s finest female painters.Jane Robinson''s brilliant new book shines a light on a remarkable woman who lived on her own terms and to whom we owe a huge debt.©2024 Jane Robinson (P)2024 Penguin Audio