ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines women's relationship to politics mediated through creative writing. It also examines women's relationship to culture mediated through the notion of the canon. The book describes the women's relationship to society mediated through the structures of professional life, philanthropic work and voluntary organizations. It focuses on three broad but crucial domains of human activity and experience. The book elucidates something of the story of women between the wars in Europe. It makes it abundantly clear that the rehabilitation of women's voices in culture, politics and history is an ongoing task, since the neglect of decades cannot be remedied in a few years. The example of women's war work shows why the disruption to established gender norms was not necessarily going to survive much past the end of the war.
