The First Lady of Fleet Street

A panoramic portrait of a remarkable woman andthe tumultuous Victorian era on which she made her mark, The First Lady ofFleet Street chronicles the meteoric rise and tragic fall of RachelBeer-indomitable heiress, social crusader, and newspaper pioneer.

Rich with period detail and drawing on a wealthof original material, this sweeping work of never-before-told history recountsthe ascent of two of London's most prominent Jewish immigrant families-theSassoons and the Beers. Born into one, Rachel married into the other, weddingnewspaper proprietor Frederick Beer, the sole heir to his father's enormousfortune. Though she and Frederick became leading London socialites, Rachel wasambitious and unwilling to settle for a comfortable, idle life. She used herhusband's platform to assume the editorship of not one but two venerable Sundaynewspapers-the Sunday Times and The Observer-a stunningaccomplishment at a time when women were denied the vote and allowed littleaccess to education. Ninety years would pass before another woman would takethe helm of a major newspaper on either side of the Atlantic.

It was an exhilarating period in London'shistory-fortunes were being amassed (and squandered), masterpieces were beingcreated, and new technologies were revolutionizing daily life. But with scantaccess to politicians and press circles, most female journalists wererestricted to issuing fashion reports and dispatches from the social whirl.Rachel refused to limit herself or her beliefs. In the pages of her newspapers,she opined on Whitehall politics and British imperial adventures abroad,campaigned for women's causes, and doggedly pursued the evidence that wouldexonerate an unjustly accused French military officer in the so-called DreyfusAffair. But even as she successfully blazed a trail in her professional life,Rachel's personal travails were the stuff of tragedy. Her marriage to Frederickdrove an insurmountable wedge between herself and her conservative family.Ultimately, she was forced to retreat from public life entirely, living out therest of her days in stately isolation.

While the men of her era may have grabbed moreheadlines, Rachel Beer remains a pivotal figure in the annals of journalism-andthe long march toward equality between the sexes. With The First Lady ofFleet Street, she finally gets the front page treatment she deserves.