Hannah Ross works for an independent publisher in London. When she isn't working on other people's books or writing her own, she is usually on a bike. She belongs to a local cycling club and also volunteers for a charity helping refugee women learn to ride bikes. Whenever she can, she packs up her saddlebag and heads for the open road, and now she doesn't feel she's really travelled anywhere unless it's on two wheels. Given the choice, Hannah would always rather be (slowly) pedalling up mountains than almost anywhere else. She also spends too long thinking about the next bicycle she really 'needs'.
A male cyclist is just a bloke on a bike, but a woman appears political, independent, a bluestocking, egregiously sporty or suspiciously saucy . . . [a] likeable, informative and barnstorming book * GUARDIAN * Hannah Ross's fascinating history of women cycling their way to freedom is more a social history than a sporting one, full of inspirational tales of women getting on their bikes and transforming attitudes, gender structures and human rights . . . Revolutions is a rich story of empowerment, adventure and the sheer exhilaration of riding a bicycle * OBSERVER * A heart-soaring tribute to the trailblazers who seized upon a chance to break convention and pedal their way to newfound freedom. The myriad stories are awe-inspiring . . . REVOLUTIONS is a rallying cry * HERALD SCOTLAND * Eye-opening and inspirational, REVOLUTIONS made me want to jump straight on my very own 'freedom machine' and go out for a ride. An utterly fascinating, and gloriously fiery read -- FELICITY CLOAKE Engaging * The i * A high cadence spin through the history of female cycling that is comprehensive despite its concision * Guardian, Books of the Year * This is a fantastic book -- MAXINE PEAKE One of the most comprehensive cycling books we've read * CYCLIST, 13 Best Books About Cycling * A celebration of the women who fought against the patriarchy to claim that most versatile of vehicles, the bicycle, for themselves. From Simone de Beauvoir's two-wheeled adventures in Paris to the extraordinary Annie 'Londonderry' Kopchovsky who in 1894 set out to circumnavigate the world on a bike these are remarkable stories, wonderfully told * THE NEW EUROPEAN * Meticulously researched 130 year history of women awheel. A huge and wide ranging story but written with such skill and lightness of touch that it's a pure pleasure to read -- JACK THURSTON, author of LOST LANES