Friends of Alice Wheeldon : The Anti-War Activist Accused of Plotting to Kill Lloyd George
Price : £17.99 & postage in UK £2.50 (or free collection)
Availability : In Stock

Published Date :
Published By Pluto Press
ISBN : 9780745335759
Category : Women
Format : Paperback
Add To Basket

Friends of Alice Wheeldon is a remarkable play by Sheila Rowbotham that re-enacts the 1917 trial and subsequent imprisonment of Wheeldon for her alleged role in plotting to assassinate the Prime Minister Lloyd George. It is prefaced by an extended essay 'Rebel Networks in the First World War'.

With an overall feeling of claustrophobia and anger, the play recounts how Alice's involvement in socialism, suffragism and the anti-war movement did not endear her to the establishment, and in times of growing class antagonism and war how the government needed a traitor.

The controversial trial became something of a cause célèbre – a show trial at the height of the First World War – based on fabricated evidence from a criminally insane fantasist 'Alex Gordon' who was working for an undercover intelligence agency. It was a travesty of justice.

First published nearly thirty years ago, this new edition points readers to subsequent research into the case and the ongoing campaign to clear Alice Wheeldon's name. It offers a necessary corrective to the more triumphalist commemorations of the First World War.



Open An Account

You can help to secure the future of radical bookselling by opening a Bookmarks Account.

We ask that you pay in a minimum of £10 a month by Standing Order which you can then spend on books at any time.

We will also give you 10% off all books or free postage anywhere in the UK.

Click Here

Merchandise

We sell much more than books, check out our posters, mugs and other stuff here

Bookmarks Publishing

Browse here for books from Bookmarks Publications and Redwords.

Bookmarks has been publishing books for over 40 years. Every year we publish a selection of books and pamphlets that address the key issues facing activists and trade unionists. Many of our older publications are available from our secondhand section.

See Our Publications