Fern Riddell

Forget wilting wallflowers and doting daughters – these royal women rocked the world with their skills and smarts, saying a firm NO to social conventions.Think the past was only full of dull, uptight royals? Then strap right in for stories of wilful women who defied expectations, changed the course of history, and sometimes were just downright badass! From fearless fighters who rallied spectacular armies to no-nonsense negotiators who fought for independence, each woman in this book turned norms on their head and smashed gender stereotypes.Get ready for pages and pages of monarchial mayhem as you meet the rebels, revolutionaries, and all-round righteous gals who weren’t afraid to break the rules and make their mark.

‘Mine is a nature which requires being loved, and I have lost almost all those who loved me most on earth.’From the moment John Brown arrived as a servant to Queen Victoria's household, he became known across the land as her loyal companion, her fierce protector, and her right-hand man, their friendship immortalised in print and later on-screen. But what if there was more to their relationship than we know? And what has history been hiding from us?In this provocative exploration of Victoria's emotional world, and her passionate midlife, the acclaimed historian Fern Riddell re-examines everything we thought we knew about one of Britain's most iconic women. A timeless romance and an extraordinary retelling of the intimate life of a queen, Victoria's Secret is an unmissable account of a woman in love.

Out now: the new book by Dr Fern Riddell, a powerful and entertaining history of sex. Revised and updated. __________These are the facts: throughout history human beings have had sex. Sexual culture did not begin in the sixties. It has always been celebrated, needed, wanted and desired part of what it means to be human.So: what can learn by looking at the sexual lives of our ancestors? What does it tell us about our attitudes and worries today, and how can the past teach us a better way of looking forward?In this wide-ranging and powerful new history of sex, Dr Fern Riddell will uncover the sexual lives of our ancestors and show that, just like us, they were as preoccupied with sexual identities, masturbation, foreplay, sex, deviance; facing it with the same confusion, joy and accidental hilarity that we do today.Sex: Lessons from History is a revealing and fascinating look at how we've always been obsessed with how sex makes us who we are.__________

Out now: the new book by Dr Fern Riddell, a powerful and entertaining history of sex. __________These are the facts: throughout history human beings have had sex. Sexual culture did not begin in the sixties. It has always been celebrated, needed, wanted and desired part of what it means to be human. So: what can learn by looking at the sexual lives of our ancestors? What does it tell us about our attitudes and worries today, and how can the past teach us a better way of looking forward? In this wide-ranging and powerful new history of sex, Dr Fern Riddell will uncover the sexual lives of our ancestors and show that, just like us, they were as preoccupied with sexual identities, masturbation, foreplay, sex, deviance; facing it with the same confusion, joy and accidental hilarity that we do today. Sex: Lessons from History is a revealing and fascinating look at how we've always been obsessed with how sex makes us who we are. __________

'Fierce, fresh and feminist, Fern Riddell tells the story of Suffragette Kitty Marion in a way that fizzes and shocks. Exciting, twisty and very very timely.' Lucy WorsleyIn Death in Ten Minutes Fern Riddell uncovers the story of radical suffragette Kitty Marion, told through never before seen personal diaries in Kitty's own hand. Kitty Marion was sent across the country by the Pankhurst family to carry out a nationwide campaign of bombings and arson attacks, as women fought for the vote using any means necessary. But in the aftermath of World War One, the dangerous and revolutionary actions of Kitty and other militant suffragettes were quickly hushed up and disowned by the previously proud movement, and the women who carried out these attacks were erased from our history. Now, for the first time, their untold story will be brought back to life.Telling a new history of the women's movement in the light of new and often shocking revelations, this book will ask the question: Why has the life of this incredible woman, and the violence of the suffragettes been forgotten? And, one hundred years later, why are women suddenly finding themselves under threat again?

An exciting factual romp through sexual desire, practises and deviance in the Victorian era. The Victorian Guide to Sex will reveal advice and ideas on sexuality from the Victorian period. Drawing on both satirical and real life events from the period, it explores every facet of sexuality that the Victorians encountered. Reproducing original advertisements and letters, with extracts taken from memoirs, legal cases, newspaper advice columns, and collections held in the Museum of London and the British Museum, this book lifts the veil from historical sexual attitudes.