In the early 1890's, at the age of 53, Frances E. Willard decided to learn how to ride a bicycle. She had already accomplished a great deal in life - as an educator, a temperance reformer, a women's suffragist, a feminist... but having been born with an "inveterate opposition to staying in the house," and facing what today we might call a midlife crisis and "sighing for new worlds to conquer," she decided to learn to ride a bicycle. This book is about more than just learning to ride a bike...

"A Wheel Within a Wheel" by Frances E. Willard is a profound exploration of the interconnectedness of life and the human experience. Willard, a prominent social reformer and women's rights advocate, uses her narrative to weave together personal anecdotes and broader societal observations. The book reflects her deep commitment to education, temperance, and women's suffrage, showcasing her belief in the power of individual agency. Through her eloquent prose, she invites readers to consider t...

In "A Wheel Within a Wheel," Frances E. Willard articulates the profound interconnections between personal experience, social reform, and spiritual development. Written in a lyrical style that marries autobiography with philosophical inquiry, the book offers a rich tapestry of Willard's reflections on the transformative power of grace in the face of adversity. Touching upon themes of women's rights, temperance, and education, Willard's work serves not only as a memoir but as a call to coll...

Pioneering journalist Nellie Bly went undercover in the late 1800s to shed light on the horrific conditions of Victorian mental asylums. This is the eye-opening account of her experience.Nellie Bly feigned insanity to be admitted to a mental institution with the intent of exposing its awful conditions first-hand. Her account reveals the institution’s inhumane treatment, abuse of power, and unsanitary environment, demonstrating the unnerving ease with which a sane w...

"Woman, like man, should be freely permitted to do whatever she can do well."So said Frances E. Willard, who lived her life in the firm belief of this principle and who was instrumental in the passage of two amendments to the U.S. Constitution.A passionate advocate for women's rights, prohibition, and underprivileged people, she was devoted to making federal aid to education, free school lunches, unions, the eight-hour work day, work relief for the poor, municipal sanitatio...

First published in 1895, this classic by Frances Willard provides a fascinating insight into the explosion in popularity of the bicycle at the turn of the century, and explores the new freedom it offered women in the West. "A Wheel within a Wheel" is highly recommended for those with an interest in the history of the bicycle, and it is not to be missed by collectors of allied literature. Frances Willard Facts (September 28, 1839 - February 7, 1898) was an American educator, temperance acti...

From the famous stunt girl reporter who wrote the well-known exposé, Ten Days in a Mad-House, this 1888 travelogue details Nellie Bly’s experience of living in Mexico in the late nineteenth century.Under the pseudonym of Nellie Bly, Six Months in Mexico chronicles her time spent living in Mexico in 1885. The American journalist provides a fascinating window into the country’s culture and the every day lives of those living there. Bly describes wed...

Nellie Bly’s solo trip around the globe broke records as she chronicled her journey in this fantastic vintage travelogue. First published in 1890, Around the World in Seventy-Two Days offers a unique perspective of the world in the late 19th century.Writing under the pseudonym of Nellie Bly, the American journalist, Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, traveled around the world following in the footsteps of Jules Verne’s fictional character Phileas Fogg. Inspired by...

The definitive collection of speeches and writings of one of America's most important social reformersCelebrated as the most famous woman in America at the time of her death in 1898, Frances E. Willard was a leading nineteenth-century American temperance and women's rights reformer and a powerful orator. President of Evanston College for Ladies (before it merged with Northwestern University) and then professor of rhetoric and aesthetics and the first dean of women ...

Frances Willard was an influential campaigner and educator for social reforms, temperance and women's education, suffrage and empowerment, as shown in her motto "Do everything". She was a long-serving national president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU, also known as the "white ribbon" movement) and famous in many countries for her writings and speaking tours. This little book is a wryly humorous account of "How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle", something she achieved at the a...

A New York Times bestseller: The "magnificent" memoir by one of the bravest and most original writers of our time—"A tour de force of literature and love" ( Vogue).One of the New York Times' "50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years"Jeanette Winterson's bold and revelatory novels have established her as a major figure in world literature. Her internationally best-selling debut, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, tells the story ...

"A groundbreaking exploration of bisexual politics by a revolutionary thinker" (Publishers Weekly) provides the missing piece of the puzzle for readers who identify as bisexualDepicted as duplicitous, traitorous, and promiscuous, bisexuality has long been suspected, marginalized, and rejected by both straight and gay communities alike.Bi takes a long overdue, comprehensive look at bisexual politics, from the issues surrounding biphobia/mon...