SEPTEMBER 2018

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From the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements to ongoing debates surrounding equal pay, we are living in a time when discussions about women’s place in society have come to the fore as perhaps never before. And this has all coincided with the centenary of some women in Britain gaining the vote for the rst time. We therefore decided that our annual reader poll would this year o er you the chance to vote for the women who you felt had made the greatest impact on history, in elds ranging from politics to literature, economics to sport. The votes have now been counted and, from page 59, we reveal who you have chosen and dissect the results with a panel of historians. I am sure you’ll have plenty of thoughts about the nal list so please do write in with your comments.

Also very much of the moment is this month’s piece on Victorian vegetarians. As ever more people in the 21st century are embracing veganism, we take a look at why some of our 19th-century forebears decided to remove meat from their diet – and how Victorian society viewed these dietary pioneers. James Gregory takes up the story on page 42.

Food is of course inextricably linked with health, and in our cover feature this month we o er a fresh perspective on medicine in the Middle Ages. You might believe that medieval physicians o ered little more than leeches and superstition, but, as Elma Brenner reveals on page 22, the reality was very di erent.

I hope you enjoy the issue. Rob Attar Editor

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS

Priya Satia The industrial revolution is o en credited to Britain’s unique genius for invention and enterprise. But the story of an 18th-century Quaker gunmaker forces us to reckon with the way war drove that transformation. P Priya reveals how British belligerence powered the industrial revolution on page 35

James Gregory Vegetarianism and its vegan o shoot aren’t novelties of the 20th and early 21st centuries, and studying Victorian food reformers is a fascinating way to understand 19th-century ideals and anxieties. P James chronicles the Victorian interest in vegetarianism on page 42

Elma Brenner I am fascinated by people’s experiences of illness in the Middle Ages, and am especially interested in responses to leprosy, a disease that provoked strong reactions, from public health measures to compassionate charity. P Elma discusses the power and perils of medieval medicine on page 22

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