The Nine Lives of Annie Besant

On Thursday, 5 April 1877, police charged 30-year-old Annie Besant and her colleague Charles Bradlaugh with breaching the Obscene Publications Act 1857. The reason was the scandalous sale of a slim book called The Fruits of Philosophy – a book that advocated for birth control in an era when parents were encouraged to keep their daughters ignorant and fearful. The publication of this guide, which t...