In 1965, at the age of twenty-nine, the young sociologist Hannah Gavron took her own life. A year later, the book based on the research she carried out for her thesis was published as The Captive Wife. Based on first-hand accounts of the lives of working-class and middle-class women in Kentish Town in London, it was one of the earliest works of British, sociological feminism and has since become a feminist classic. Arguing that motherhood stripped women of independence as it often brought an end to paid work, Gavron explores how their values and aspirations as women came into conflict with the traditional role they had to play as mothers. Written in simple prose and fair-minded in its approach, it became an inspirational book for many mothers, feminists and activists seeking equality for women and remains a vital book today. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Ann Oakley.

With the heir to the throne murdered, King Robert III a sick weakling, and his remaining son a child, Scotland and the Stewarts were in a bad way three generations on from the great Bruce. But two young men stood out: Alex Stewart, bastard son of the notorious Wolf of Badenoch, and his cousin, Brave John of Coull, a son of the hated regent. With their fortunes are entwined those of Sir Jamie Douglas, through whose eyes the story is told. The Captive Crown concludes the great trilogy of novels which charts the rise against all odds of the royal House of Stewart, as told by Nigel Tranter, master of Scottish historical fiction.

Miranda Morgan is en-route home while traveling with a friend, when, out of gas she must wait injured and alone as the friend goes for help. A former rider herself; she is unwary when two bikers stop to offer help. A scuffle and blow to the neck finds her awaking at their home where she is presented to a frightful looking man called Ben, and put in his charge against both their wishes. She is leery of this tall, seemingly big man. With secrets and his reluctance to trust her, he repeatedly urges: “If you want to survive, you’re going to have to trust me.” Tensions grow between them and her instinct is to be wary of this one, but she realizes that she must learn to trust him. Time is her friend as she observes him unawares while he works and in his treatment of her; thus proving he is not like the others, but rather, a kind and nurturing man. He observes her as well, and sees her personality come through as they become friends and she lets her guard down. As trust grows between them, their secrets and mutual attractions are revealed. Miranda never imagines that in this awful place, she will find a source of comfort, desire and fall in love with the one man who will share her passions and love her endlessly. Her story is intense, filled with emotion, coincidences, love, and the shared joys of motorcycles.

A maiden of Normandy, mistakenly abducted . . . Kidnapped from the ducal palace of Rouen, Ailénor quickly realizes her captors’ mistake and the peril that yet threatens her mother. As the ruffians smuggle her aboard ship, bound and gagged, and set forth for Ireland, she is desperate to escape . . . unaware her champion is near at hand. A Saxon lord on a secret mission for his king . . . No sooner does Garreth of Tamworth arrive in Normandy than he encounters the entrancing scarlet-haired maiden who literally knocks him off his feet. But their stolen moments and budding passions end abruptly when his audience with the Duke concludes badly. As he departs Rouen, little does he realize that the beautiful Ailénor lies hidden aboard, just beneath his feet. Now only he can save her from family enemies returned from long past, seeking revenge . . . Yet amid the darkest danger, their all-consuming love is forged . . .

“Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama.”—The New York Times “Burn the murderess!” So begins The Captive Queen of Scots, the epic tale of the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart, cousin to Queen Elizabeth of England. After her husband, Lord Darnley, is murdered, suspicion falls on Mary and her lover, the Earl of Bothwell. A Catholic in a land of stern Protestants, Mary finds herself in the middle of a revolt, as her bloodthirsty subjects call for her arrest and execution. In disgrace, she flees her Scottish persecutors for England, where she appeals to Queen Elizabeth for mercy, but to no avail. Throughout Mary’s long years as the Queen’s prisoner, she conceives many bold plans for revenge and escaping to freedom—but the gallows of Fotheringhay Castle loom . . . Set against royal pageantry, religious strife, and bloody uprising—and filled with conspiracies, passion, heartbreak, and fascinating historical detail—The Captive Queen of Scots is an unforgettable tale of the intense rivalry between two powerful women of noble blood.

In the year 1066, England struggles against Norman invaders, and two strangers cross paths on a pilgrimage fraught with peril--only to discover a love worth any danger... Battle-weary knight Marc de Sens has never encountered a woman like Sunniva of Wereford: beautiful, brilliant, and miles above the curs who call themselves her kin. Alas, she is promised to another and Marc's obligation is to his three orphaned nieces. But when Sunniva's circumstances suddenly change, Marc learns the truth about her "betrothal"... A rough-hewn knight so gentle with children intrigues Sunniva, who never knew a kind word or caring touch from any man until Marc rescued her from the grimmest of fates. When her loutish father and brothers are killed, Sunniva is finally free, but her troubles are far from over. Although Marc has appointed himself her protector, he has a dark secret--as well as an uncanny ability to disarm her completely...

The book demonstrates sociolinguistic patterns at work in Elizabethan ideological conflicts, at a level that shows how those patterns were related to the energies of people's sexuality and their political and religious commitments.