Women, migration and empire

"New light is thrown on the history of England and the British Empire in this account of the experiences of women, immigrant and English-born, during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Editor Joan Grant brings together into one book the disparate experiences of Irish, Caribbean and Jewish immigrants and relates them also to the philanthropic activities of middle class women in Britain." "In her chapter 'In Search of Mary's Past', Ann Rossiter describes how Irish women laboured in England on farms, in factories and in other women's homes. Lara Marks relates how many young Jewish immigrants opted for prostitution when their husbands did not provide for them and Rickie Burman is equally illuminating about the efforts of middle class Jewish women from the longer-established Jewish community to provide charity and education for the new Jewish refugees from the pogroms of Eastern Europe. Joan Grant brings her lawyer's perspective to the plight of black women as they sought to escape slavery once in Britain. Clare Midgley offers an account of women's roles in the anti-slavery campaign and their concern particularly for women slaves, and Flora Hamilton provides evidence of British women in India and in Britain who worked, sometimes alongside Indian women, for independence." "This fascinating account traces the awareness among women of the relationship between the struggles for freedom from enslavement or occupation and the struggles for universal suffrage and liberation from sexual oppression. The book is compelling reading for the disciplines of women's studies and of 19th and 20th century history and offers much to intrigue the general reader."--BOOK JACKET.