Hannah Ross explores the history of women who broke from convention and cycled their way to freedom.

Ross introduces us to women who were told they couldn’t or shouldn’t cycle but they did so anyway. Simone de Beauvoir borrowed her lover's bike to cycle around Paris in the 1940s, instantly falling in love with the freedom it gave her. Alice Hawkins, a factory worker from Leicester, pedal-powered her fight for universal suffrage as the bicycle became a cornerstone of her work to recruit women to the cause. Zahra Naarin Hussano challenged religious and cultural taboos in Afghanistan to ride a bike and teach others to do the same.

Today professional female cyclists at the top of their game such as Lizzie Deignan and Helen Wyman, still face problems of representation and pay.  Ross examines the barriers women face cycling across the world and the importance of bikes for women’s agency – not just in terms of the Suffrage movement, but in cities, today.

Ross celebrates the women who are part of the rich and varied history of cycling, many of whom have been pushed to the margins or forgotten.📷

Hannah Ross’ Revolutions in published by Orion Publishing. Buy a copy from Waterstones, our bookselling partners.

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Festival of Ideas: Hannah Ross, How Did Women Change the World on Two Wheels?