Uncontrollable Women cover art

Uncontrollable Women

Radicals, Reformers and Revolutionaries

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Uncontrollable Women

By: Nan Sloane
Narrated by: Harriet Dunlop
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About this listen

"Compelling." The Guardian
"An insightful and inspiring history." BBC History Magazine
"A tantalising revelatory book." The House
"Brisk and illuminating." Times Literary Supplement
"A damn good read." Morning Star
"Wonderful." The Chartist

Uncontrollable Women is a history of radical, reformist and revolutionary women between the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 and the passing of the Great Reform Act in 1832. Very few of them are well-known today; some were unknown even in their own day. All of them contributed something to the world we now inhabit.

At a time when women were supposed to leave politics to men they spoke, wrote, marched, organised, asked questions, challenged power structures, sometimes went to prison and even died. History has not usually been kind to them, and they have frequently been pushed into asides or footnotes, dismissed as secondary, or spoken over, for, or through by men and sometimes other women. In this book, they take centre stage in both their own stories and those of others, and in doing so bring different voices to the more familiar accounts of the period. These women and many others played a part in developing political ideas and freedoms as we know them today, and some fought battles which still remain to be won or raised questions that are still unresolved. These are their stories.

©2026 Nan Sloane (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Elections & Political Process Freedom & Security Modern Politics & Government Women in Politics

Critic Reviews

A compelling study [that] celebrates the working class pioneers of female emancipation who have been overlooked. (Kathryn Hughes)
An epic history of revolutionary, reforming, protesting actions by women spanning nearly half a century, vividly written by Nan Sloane. From wide and deep archive research, the author brings together for the first time facinating and extraordinary stories of women from both educated middle-class and humble working-class backgrounds, many of them unknown… Uncontrollable Women bristles with brave females: writing, protesting, marching, shouting, pushing and shoving, never keeping quiet and never giving up. (Diane Atkinson)
Many of those brave women who risked their lives for our emancipation are largely forgotten now. Nan Sloane’s powerful book puts their remarkable stories centre stage. It is a tantalising revelatory book which gives voice to a procession of brave and fearless women who stood up for the principles of free speech, political rights and voting reform – risking their lives and their liberty in the process… Nan Sloane’s book at last gives these women a voice and recovers just some of their history. (Angela Eagle MP)
Nan Sloane points out in this brisk and illuminating study of political activism between 1789 and the passing of the Act, no vote did not mean no voice. (Jane Robinson)
Some books sit neatly in the reference section, others are picked up and read intermittently — those which are found one day by the armchair and another, on the bedside table. This one deserves to be kept close at hand, not only because it’s a damn good read, but because it’s a reminder of how strong women can be rendered invisible and silent, unless we shine a spotlight and amplify their voices. (Lynne Walsh)
Uncontrollable Women brilliantly tells the history of women who fought for rights and against repression during the radical years in Britain of 1789-1832 … We owe all the uncontrollable women an enormous debt, first of all by not taking their achievements for granted, but most importantly, by continuing the fight for women’s rights. (Ellen Graubart)
Powerful and clear Uncontrollable Women is a fine piece of history, the kind left out of the usual mainstream narrative. It widens our lens to look beyond the men involved in a wide popular movement, allowing us to see more deeply into the lives of everyday people who mattered, many of whom, not surprisingly, were women. (Marissa Moss)
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