Loved it. Love the research that went in to this book and loved the style of writing that felt very accessible and readable as opposed to high academic style writing. Very informative and well rounded research that really shows what life was like for women in this period. Great book and one that should definitely be peer reviewed.

Title: The Violent Abuse of Women in 17th and 18th Century Britain

Author : Geoffrey Pimm

Genre: Nonfiton: History

Rating: 4

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are the gateway between the medieval world and the modern, centuries when the western societies moved from an age governed principally by religion and superstition to an age directed principally by reason and understanding. Although the worlds of science and philosophy took giant strides away from the medieval view of the world, attitudes to women did not change from those that had pertained for centuries. Girls were largely barred from education - only around 14% of women could read and write by 1700 - and the few educated women were not permitted to enter the professions.


As a result women, especially if single, were employed in menial jobs or were forced into a life of petty crime. Many survived by entering the 'oldest profession in the world'.


The social turbulence of the first half of the seventeenth century afforded women new opportunities and new religious freedoms and women were attracted into the many new sects where they were afforded a voice in preaching and teaching. In a time of unprecedented and unbridled political discussion, many better educated women saw no reason why they should not enter the debate and began to voice their opinions alongside those of men, publishing their own books and pamphlets. These new and unprecedented liberties thus gained by women were perceived as a threat by the leaders of society, and thus arose an unlikely masculine alliance against the new feminine assertions, across all sections of society from Puritan preachers to court judges, from husbands to court rakes.


This reaction often found expression in the violent and brutal treatment of women who were seen to have stepped out of line, whether legally, socially or domestically. Often beaten and abused at home by husbands exercising their legal right, they were whipped, branded, exiled and burnt alive by the courts, from which their sex had no recourse to protection, justice or restitution. Many of the most brutal forms of punishment were reserved exclusively for women, and even where the same, they were more savagely applied than would be the case for similar crimes committed by men.


This work records the many kinds of violent physical and verbal abuse perpetrated against women in Britain and her colonies, both domestically and under the law, during two centuries when huge strides in human knowledge and civilisation were being made in every other sphere of human activity, but social and legal attitudes to women and their punishment remained firmly embedded in the medieval.


My thoughts

Would I recommend it : yes

Would I read anything else by author? Maybe

First off I do want to say that this isn't light read that you can read in one setting, and if your someone who might have flashbacks then this isn't for you. Because this author brings to live how women were treated unfairly and very often violently throughout the the 17th and 18th century. As well as how women during this time had very little to no rights and were treated as object of scron by the both the males of the households and justice system.He also brings to life that to this day some things haven't changed in how some of the man treat their wife's and daughters, and how even in some social aspects its even allowed from the man folk to kill their own daughters.With that said I want to thank Netgalley for letting me read and review it .

Thanks to Pen & Sword History and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book makes a laudable attempt at exploring the often horrendous treatment that women were subject to in 17th and 18th century Britain. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way however. It felt to me like there was an element of turning a difficult and serious topic into a series of somewhat sensationalised, salacious accounts. Sometimes I felt like I was reading the 'serious' equivalent of those "MY DAD KILLED MY MUM AND THEN ATE MY DOG" Take a Break type magazines.

This would be a great reference source for academic works, but while I was reading it for my own general knowledge, I found some sections and sources repetitious.

The Violent Abuse of Women in 17th and 18th Century Britain by Geoffrey Pimm

The books looks at how women were treated unfairly and very often violently throughout the the 17th and 18th century as stated in the title. Women during this time had very little to no rights and were treated as object of scron by the both the males of the households and justice system.

An examples of the difference between the treatment of men and women can seen in how courts delt with the crimes of petty theft and high treason for these crimes men where hanged , where's women were hurshly sentenced to death by burning at the stake. In any household at the time a men could also beat his wife and his female servants with legal rights to do

A interesting, well researched and a thought provoking book but sadly at times a very hard read due to subject matter.

Would recommend to those with an interested in history, equality and equal rights.

The topic of this book is exceptionally interesting. It looks at the abuse of women in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries - not just physical and sexual though those are heavily included but also the wider discrimination and emotional and psychological abuse. The book is fascinating and obviously extensively researched.
Some of this was easy to read and in other parts I found it got a bit bogged under. Some chapters are made up entirely of examples of a particular point the author was making. I found this got slightly repetitive. There are plenty of facts but little in the way of opinion - where are the roots of this behaviour, why did society & individuals feel the need to behave like this. There was little psychological or sociological discussion which I feel would have enhanced the book.
I'm not sure that the author was totally sure of their target audience. The extensive research and quotations from documents made this seem like a student's book. However at other times it read like a story as if it was intended for the general public rather than historians.

The Violent Abuse of Women in 17th and 18th Century Britain
The book starts with an old English proverb “A Dog, a Woman, A Walnut Tree; The more they’re beaten, the better they be.” Sadly, it appears that most of society until the late eighteenth / early nineteenth century still believed in th’adage.

Mr Pimm’s book provides a comprehensive survey of the crimes resulting in violent punishment and of the punishments inflicted. It is not a comfortable read, although these are matter of fact unemotional descriptions based upon historical records. The author obviously empathises and sympathises with the women punished according to the practices of their times but makes it clear that this was the way the cruel world worked back then. His approach is excellent – although we would all agree that the punishments were barbaric and are to be abhorred by any decent human being, repeatedly drawing attention to how far we have progressed since then would reduce the value of it as a textbook.

This is undoubtedly a very well-researched book. Many sources are cited and there are appendices giving the full texts of contemporary reports of court cases. My only quibble is: I’m not sure who the expected readership is expected to be. I am assuming it is the general public with an interest in history. But some chapters give the impression of being lists of examples – I would have preferred a bit more authorial narrative and context. The book could functional very well indeed as a textbook for a university course, but then I’d want more structure to the lists and a better indexation of them.

As I say, though, these are quibbles. Mr Pimm has written a very good book indeed and I am grateful to Pen and Sword for publishing it. It deserves a wide audience.

#TheViolentAbuseOfWomenIn17thAnd18thCenturyBritain #NetGalley

I tried so hard to get into this book but I just couldn't. The writing was not consistent for me and even though the topic was super interesting, I could not focus on this for more than two minutes. The writing was too dry in places and this sucked me out of the book. Interesting topic, dry book.

There is no doubt that this is an excellent piece of research and will be an invaluable resource for students of this subject. It’s a difficult book to read, however, The content is very upsetting in places and it got to the point where I didn’t want to read any more. I’m glad I had the opportunity to read some of it, however, as it’s important to be aware of our history, no matter how unpleasant.

"Wives might have suffered at the hands of their husbands, but they could also suffer physical abuse at the hands of other women."

I wanted to learn more about how women's rights have evolved and felt this book was a good place to start in understanding their suppression. I was disturbed and angry by the injustices women have experienced throughout the years. Some of the things discussed I've been aware of. Like how women were expected to serve and be subservient to their husbands and men. I enjoyed learning about how women started speaking up and asking for abusive men to be held accountable for their actions. It was difficult to learn that neighbors would stand idly as women screamed for help while their husband beat them, sometimes even resulting in the death of the woman. It was disturbing to read that women turned against each other, abusing the women who were speaking up for change and freedom. I highly recommend this book. It's educational and it's a must-read to be reminded of the sacrifices made by women in the past years so that we can honor them when we embrace the liberties they weren't as fortunate to enjoy.

This was definitely not a light or pleasant read but I do think it’s an important one. I had to skip past some of the most horrific stories as it was just so unpleasant to read. I thought I was pretty aware of the historical mistreatment of women but I had not realised how commonplace it appeared to be. A shocking and eye opening book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for allowing me to review this work.

In graduate school, I spent a lot of time reading texts from the 17th and 18th century Britain. When we would discuss violence against women, we were often dismissed because "that's just the way it was" and, in some instances, certain professors would argue that it wasn't important to the text. So, I have a great deal of experience with history and literature from Britain in this time. Still, Pimm's book is very rich in detail and very engaging. This is not "hey, it's a rainy Sunday read," but there is a great deal of depth to the structure of the work. I hesitate to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but the writing was very solid and enjoyable.

This is not light reading!
Its also not strictly an academic text, as it concentrates more on chronicling the ways in which women were victims of patriarchal laws during the aforementioned time period, rather than drawing a conclusion or developing a thesis upon the chronicling.
As such, it's an interesting read, but I was somewhat mystified as to whst it was for.
It's certainly important to recognise the changing face of law enforcement in relation to gender and how women were treated and how this has changed, but I'd have liked a cohesive thesis to put together some sort of conclusion and explain what meaning the author draws from this.
It's interesting, but a bit depressing, and a bit... Rubber necking? It's like we're invited to ogle and titillate ourselves over all these awful things with no reason other than to entertain.
I'd recommend this with heavy editing and more insightful thought.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

I found this to be extremely fascinating and interesting read. I also found it hard to read at times. It was good to find out how women were treated then compared to nowadays. Although a lot has changed over the years there is still some of it relevant in the present day (although not as bad in the western countries compared with other countries).

The book was well written and the author done some solid research. I would recommend reading it if you like History and/or Equal Rights.

Although like most readers I was generally aware of the subservient and discriminatory way that females have been treated throughout history it was nonetheless still shocking to read of the brutal and inhuman treatment they were afforded in seventeenth and eighteenth century Britain. Deriving in large part from religious and superstitious attitudes the role of women in society was little changed from medieval times and this rigid framework of exploitation and control was upheld by a draconian legal system that would often punish women far harsher then men for the same crime. An example of this being death by burning where women were subjected to this barbaric act for the crimes of "petty" and "high treason" while men were subject to hanging. Interestingly the last woman to be convicted of the latter crime which encompassed coin forgery was as surprisingly late as 1789.

The book makes clear that throughout all layers of society there was an acceptance and condoning of casual violence perpetrated against women. Even in the diaries of that so called educated and enlightened man of letters Samuel Pepys can be found instances of him recounting how he would beat his wife and female servants (this he would have a legal right to do) and the instances of violence against women that he would encounter going about the streets of London. The book is comprised of chapters covering such issues as the various forms of punishment that were exclusive to women, the treatment of women in the British colonies and the role of religion in female subjugation. This is a well researched book and the use of contemporaneous newspaper and trial reports together with diary entries of the time give an immediacy to the period.


I have now read several historic and biographical books published by Pen & Sword and I have always found them to be well written and informative. They may well introduce you to subjects and figures of the past that you may have not been previously familiar with which can if desired lead to further reading. Due to the concise nature of their books (they can normally be read over the course of one or two days) you can quickly gain a basic appreciation of a subject under review. Like other Pen & Sword books there is an interesting collection of photographs that lend credence to the text. A recommended read for those interested in history and how it continues to shape the present.

The Violent Abuse of Women in 17th and 18th Century Britain by Geoffrey Pimm was a very incite full read.
As a female, I cannot say it was enjoyable based on the actual subject matter, however it was a fascinating read to see how society was then vs now and how (luckily) we have evolved.
It also shows us how far we still have yet to go.

Thank you NetGalley for the allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

The book details many different types of abuse and torture imposed on women in the 17th and 18th century. This is a horrifying account of past abuse directed at women. The book resonates with today's readers and it feels painfully relevant. The book could use more contextualization and explanation behind these practices.

A really interesting book, sadly all too relevant in the world today. Although maybe not largely in the western world (although a lot still goes on) around the world these tales are still going on. A well written and thought out book, interesting and shocking. A good read for those interested in history, equality and equal rights.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion