Bring Out the Banners

by Geoffrey Trease

An "historical" story about the Suffragette movement. From very different social backgrounds, Fiona Campbell and Lady "Belle" Isherwood share a passionate dedication to the same cause - the campaign of the Suffragettes to win the vote for women. Writer Guy Dangerfield's interest is more objective - the Suffragettes are simply good copy, although his sympathy grows considerably, as he gets to know the two young women. As they enter 1914, the struggle becomes ever more bitter and intense. For Fiona, in particular, the time is fast approaching to stand up and be counted, no matter how frightening the consequences - public condemnation, prison, hunger strikes. And all the time war looms. Geoffrey Trease's first novel "Bows Against the Barons" was published in 1934 and since then he has added over a hundred further titles children's and adult novels, plays, biographies and a seminal work on children's literature, "Tales Out of School". His adventure stories include titles such as "The Arpino Assignment", "Shadow Under the Sea", "The Calabrian Quest" (his one hundredth book) and "Song for a Tattered Flag".

Genres: Historical Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Robert Geoffrey Trease (1909-1998) was a prolific writer, publishing 113 books between 1934 (Bows Against the Barons) and 1997 (Cloak for a Spy). His work has been translated into 20 languages. His grandfather was a historian, and was one of the main influences towards Trease's work.

He is best known for writing children's historical novels, whose content reflects his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched. However, with his ground-breaking study Tales Out of School (1949), he was also a pioneer of the idea that children's literature should be a serious subject for study and debate. When he began his career, his radical viewpoint was a change from the conventional and often jingoistic tone of most children's literature of the time, and he was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes.

Reviews

[Viva · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third and last Geoffrey Trease book that I could easily find. Spoilers ahead. Unfortunately, I did not like this one too much. This book was about the Suffrage movement to give women the vote. It didn't follow one character and revolve the main story around them as the other books Trease wrote. I felt he inserted the character into the event(s) instead. This made the story harder for me to follow. I dnf'd it as it seem rather formless.

[Sarah Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good YA about the winning of the vote in England in the period leading up to the Great War. Suffragists called the struggle off from 1914 to 1918 and the vote was granted immediately after. Engaging characters and plot, and I skipped the force feeding, it being about as grisly as Guantanamo.