The blurb for Revolutions grabbed my attention at the thought of celebrating women’s cycling.

The reader is along for the ride to showcase this feminist story of women’s rights and how the bike was able to change things for so many women through the years.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own

While today it is certainly not unusual to see female bicycle riders, that has not always been normal. From the early days of the bicycle when Victorian patriarchy ruled the day to modern feminist calls for equal pay for equal activity, the bicycle has played an important part in the advancement of the women’s movement. One just needs to read this book by Hannah Ross to see just how much the bicycle has been a part of the movement.

Starting from the Victorian era with the wide ankle length dresses that made riding nearly impossible to a group of women riding each stage of the 2019 Tour de France a day before the paid male riders would hit that stage, Ross writes about the role of the bicycle and how activist women would either use the bike to show what women could do that went well beyond beating men at bike races.

While most of the book is about the struggle for women’s equality, there is some good writing in the last third of the book about competitive cycling and the races in which women have participated. This is especially true for the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Ross also gives some much needed publicity to today’s competitive races for women – the biggest of these, the Giro Rosa, has to compete for attention with the Tour de France and sadly is not well known. While there have been strides made in competitive cycling for women, Ross shows there is a long way to go.

More of a book on feminism and women’s rights, this book nonetheless is a very good read for those who wish to learn how the bike has been a part of the lives of millions of women in so many different ways.

I wish to thank Penguin Group Dutton for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Read if you: Want a lively and accessible history of women's interest, involvement, and advocacy within the cycling world.

From the cycling craze of the Victorian era, to women's cycling advocates in the Middle East and in the BMX community, this is an intriguing look at how women's liberation and cycling have often gone hand in hand. This is fairly evenly balanced betwen British and US cycling history, as well as glimpses in cycling in other countries.

Librarians/booksellers: Definitely purchase if you are in a bike-friendly community!

Many thanks to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.