A DIRTY, FILTHY BOOK

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