Lady of Fleet Street

In the late 19th century at a time when women were still denied the vote, Rachel Sassoon Beer edited both The Sunday Times and the Observer. It was to be over eighty years before another woman took the helm of a national newspaper. In First Lady of Fleet Street, Eilat Negev and Yehuda Koren reveal a striking biography of a figure who was a key player in British journalism at a time of great historical importance, including her instrumental role in proving the innocence of Dreyfus. It is startling that this is the first biography of such a pioneer but the tragedy which struck in her later years reveals her omission from history.

Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev are journalists whose work has been widely published and critically acclaimed across the globe. They are also the authors of A Lover of Unreason: The Biography of Assia Weevil and In Our Hearts We Were Giants.

Vanessa Thorpe has been the Arts Correspondent for The Observer since 1999.