A Dirty, Filthy Book

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Brought to you by Penguin.

London, 1877. A petite young woman stands before an all-male jury, about to risk everything. She takes a breath, and opens her defence.

Annie Besant and her confidant Charles Bradlaugh are on trial for the crime of publishing a birth control pamphlet. Remarkably, Annie is defending herself against obscenity charges 45 years before women can practice law in England. At a time when women were expected to be obedient, Annie’s fearless voice was a sensation and spotlighted issues of sex, censorship and morality.

A Dirty, Filthy Book tells the gripping story of a little-known pioneer who refused to accept the role that the establishment assigned her, and chose instead to resist.

‘Makes the case for Annie Besant as a truly eminent Victorian, as brilliant and fearless as she was beautiful’ The Times

©2024 Michael Meyer (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

Makes the case for Annie Besant as a truly eminent Victorian, as brilliant and fearless as she was beautiful . . . [A] witty and entertaining account
The Times, Book of the Week
Drawn from newspaper accounts, court records, and Besant's own memoir, Meyer's depiction of Besant fighting for reproductive rights, almost 150 years ago, is truly marvellous . . . Meyer succeeds admirably in his efforts to bring to light the story of a truly remarkable and courageous woman
Daily Telegraph
Michael Meyer deserves hearty congratulations for returning a remarkable woman to centre stage, where she belongs
Times Literary Supplement
Michael Meyer has mined the rich seams of history and woven together a fascinating and gripping narrative. Beautifully told, it has echoes for today. I don't know how he does it
Adam Hochschild, author of KING LEOPOLD'S GHOST
Annie Besant was a freethinker and a half - an indomitable woman who challenged many of the discriminatory views of her day and put all her energies into social change. A great read
Prof. Helen Pankhurst CBE, Womenu2019s Rights Campaigner
Hugely entertaining, told with verve and humour, with a riveting court trial at its heart. A terrific study of the Victorian controversy and criminalisation of contraception and the dire consequences for women of confusing medicine with morals. At last, Annie Besant has found a champion equal to the task of doing justice to her crusading life and the significance of her achievements. Victorian patriarchy denied Besant her rightful place in political history: Michael Meyer has reinstated her, in all her glorious complexity, as the pioneering feminist changemaker in Britain's history of morals, censorship and sex
Rachel Holmes, author of SYLVIA PANKHURST and ELEANOR MARX
At a time when reproductive rights are being rolled back globally, as well as worryingly close to home, [Besant's] story needs retelling until its message is set in stone
Guardian
Meyer interweaves Besant's multifaceted life into an engaging prose, full of intriguing details
BBC History Magazine
Splendidly researched . . . A superbly written model for those who aspire to write significant but accessible history . . . The book fizzes along
The Freethinker

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