{"product_id":"walnut-tree-the","title":"Walnut Tree, The","description":"A Waterstones Best History Book 2024''Compulsively readable'' – Times Literary Supplement''An outstanding work'' – Philippa Gregory''A powerful narrative told with frankness and sensitivity'' – Helen Fry, historian and author of Women In Intelligence''A woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the more they are beaten, the better they’ll be.''So went the proverb quoted by a prominent MP in the Houses of Parliament in 1853. His words – intended ironically in a debate about a rise in attacks on women – summed up the prevailing attitude of the day, in which violence against women was waved away as a part and parcel of modern living – a chilling seam of misogyny that had polluted both parliament and the law. But were things about to change?In this vivid and essential work of historical non-fiction, Kate Morgan explores the legal campaigns, test cases and individual injustices of the Victorian and Edwardian eras which fundamentally re-shaped the status of women under British law. These are seen through the untold stories of women whose cases became cornerstones of our modern legal system and shine a light on the historical inequalities of the law.We hear of the uniquely abusive marriage which culminated in the dramatic story of the ‘Clitheroe wife abduction’; of the domestic tragedies which changed the law on domestic violence; the controversies surrounding the Contagious Diseases Act and the women who campaigned to abolish it; and the real courtroom stories behind notorious murder cases such as the ‘Camden Town Murder’.Exploring the 19th- and early 20th Century legal history that influenced the modern-day stances on issues such as domestic abuse, sexual violence and divorce, The Walnut Treelifts the lid on the shocking history of women under British law – and what it means for women today.","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56688170697039,"sku":"9780008559618","price":18.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0061\/0372\/8217\/files\/9780008559618_1-walnut-tree-the.jpg?v=1766522790","url":"https:\/\/www.suomalainen.com\/products\/walnut-tree-the","provider":"Suomalainen.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}