JOAN SMITH

Women have never had more freedom yet questions of inequality persist from the bedroom to the workplace. A quarter of a century after the publication of her seminal text Misogynies, Joan Smith looks at what women have achieved - and the price theyve paid for it. From Amy Winehouse to Pussy Riot, from the veil to domestic violence, a war is being fought over womens bodies and minds. Smith shows how misogyny has assumed new and dangerous forms as we confront an economic, social and religious backlash. But thats only part of the story. The female eunuch has become the public woman, and she isnt going to go quietly. Written with wit and passion, this forensic analysis sets out what were up against - and how to fight back. Brilliant A compelling rap sheet of 21st century misogynies and a reprimand to anyone who declares the battle for gender equality is over - Robin Ince Joan Smith dares to expose woman-hating in all its forms. She does not shy away from naming religion and cultural relativism as barriers to liberation, and names men and the system of patriarchy as the problem. Read this book, not least because it will open your eyes to how much needs to be done before we consign male supremacy to the museum of ancient reli. - Julie Bindel

When Prince George was just eight weeks old, the Evening Standard declared him to be the most influential person in London. He couldnt even walk, let alone talk. Yet one day he could become head of state, whether we like it or not. Joan Smith argues that it has become nearly impossible to question the existence of the monarchy. Articulate republicans are drowned out while the supercharged PR and media machines ask only who designed Kates dresses. Smith topples the arguments for having a monarchy, one by one. The royals dont provide a boost for tourism, and their deliberately opaque accounting conceals the truth about the huge burden they place on the public purse. And she exposes darker truths. These symbols of so-called impartiality have hidden power and influence. Not only does Charles regularly lobby government ministers but - far from the sycophantic reporting of Kates baby bump - the royals have dined with despots with blood on their hands. Are these people really fi t to be the public face of a modern country? Ultimately, Smith declares that the monarchy - undemocratic, unaccountable and shockingly expensive - has no place in modern Britain.

Pacy witty and authoritative Jonathan Freedland In her hands ancient history becomes a vivid avenue of approach to a burning modern world concern a powerful and important book Daily Telegraph

What do the attacks in London Bridge, Manchester and Westminster have in common with those at the Charlie Hebdo offices, the Finsbury Park Mosque attack and multiple US shootings? They were all carried out by men with histories of domestic violence.RevelationSunday Times: Best Book of 2019Achieves the rare feat of saying something new John BewPowerfully writtenThe TimesTERRORISM BEGINS AT HOME. Terrorism is seen as a special category of crime that has blinded us to the obvious - that it is, almost always, male violence. The extraordinary link between so many tragic recent attacks is that the perpetrators have practised in private before their public outbursts. In these searing case studies, Joan Smith, feminist and human rights campaigner, makes a compelling and persuasive argument for a radical shift in perspective. Incomprehensible ideology is transformed through her clear-eyed research into a disturbing but familiar pattern.From the Manchester bomber to the Charlie Hebdo attackers, from angry white men to the Bethnal Green girls, from US school shootings to the London gang members who joined ISIS, Joan Smith shows that, time and time again, misogyny, trauma and abuse lurk beneath the justifications of religion or politics. Until Smith pointed it out in 2017, criminal authorities missed this connection because violence against women is dangerously normalised. Yet, since domestic abuse often comes before a public attack, its here a solution to the scourge of our age might be found. Thought-provoking and essential, Home-Grown will lift the veil on a revelatory truth.For fans of Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez and Misogynation by Laura Bates.

Pacy, witty and authoritative Jonathan Freedland In her hands, ancient history becomes a vivid avenue of approach to a burning modern-world concern a powerful and important book Daily TelegraphA superb and illuminating history of Imperial Romes most important women dispelling the myths and misogyny that have distorted their reputations for over 2000 years. Writer, activist and journalist Joan Smith has worked for years to raise awareness of violence against women and girls, and has been instrumental in bringing the innate misogyny of the police to public attention. Unfortunately, She Was a Nymphomaniac reinterprets the bloody, violent story of twenty-three women closely associated with the Julio-Claudian emperors of Rome. Fewer than half a dozen of them can be said with any confidence to have died of natural causes. These were the wives, mothers and daughters of the emperors from Augustus to Nero, via their mad relative Caligula. They were the most privileged women of their time, but their lives were overshadowed, dominated and controlled by these men. Raped, killed, ripped apart from their children and mostly airbrushed from history, Joan Smith brings their extraordinary and tragic stories back into focus. There are no nymphomaniacs here. Instead, the book pieces together the human stories, showing how they struggled for control of their lives at a time when both the law and culture were stacked against them. These women shared in a spirited, inspiring and sometimes reckless resistance to male authority. Smith brings to this history not only a fresh interpretation of the original texts but also an understanding of what we know now about the mechanics of domestic abuse. The way these women have been misrepresented for two thousand years speaks volumes not just about ancient misogyny but the origin and persistence of attitudes that continue to blight womens lives today.

Misogynies is one of the most celebrated feminist texts by a British author. First published in 1989, it created shock waves with its analyses of history, literature and popular culture. Joan Smith drew on her own experience as one of the few women reporting the Yorkshire Ripper murders and looked at novels, slasher movies, Page Three and Princess Diana, teasing out the attitudes that brought them together. A feminist classic, Smiths exploration of fear and hatred of women resonates to this day.

Pacy witty and authoritative Jonathan Freedland In her hands ancient history becomes a vivid avenue of approach to a burning modern world concern a powerful and important book Daily Telegraph