The Woman Who Saved the Children: A Biography of Eglantyne Jebb: Founder of Save the Children

by Clare Mulley

Overview

The adventures and tribulations of Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the Children, and humble revolutionary

Winner of the 2007 Daily Mail Biographer’s Club Prize

An unconventional biography of an unconventional woman. Eglantyne Jebb, not particularly fond of children herself, nevertheless dedicated her life to establishing Save the Children and promoting her revolutionary concept of human rights. In this award-winning book, Clare Mulley brings to life this brilliant, charismatic, and passionate woman, whose work took her between drawing rooms and war zones, defying convention and breaking the law.

Eglantyne Jebb not only helped save millions of lives, she also permanently changed the way the world treats children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780740683
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	03/18/2009
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	902,154
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

While working as a fundraiser at Save the Children Clare Mulley came across a note written eighty years earlier by the organisation’s founder: ‘the world is not ungenerous, but unimaginative, and very busy’. She has since been fascinated by Eglantyne, sleeping in her childhood nursery, rifling through her journals, and even buying her signature on eBay.

Clare Mulley is also the author of The Spy Who Loved and The Women Who Flew for Hitler. She is the mother of three daughters and currently lives in Essex, England.
Clare Mulley joined Save the Children as a fundraiser in the 1990s and is now an author and the mother of three young daughters. She is the winner of the 2007 Daily Mail Biographer's Club prize.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Acknowledgements xi

Family Trees xiii

Illustrations xv

Cast of Characters xix

1 Imagining Eglantyne, 2009-1876 1

2 Meeting the Family, 1876-1894 7

3 Unravelling Her Surroundings, 1895-1898 28

4 Testing the Maternal Impulse, 1898-1900 52

5 Happy Days, 1901-1902 70

6 Brief Studies in Social Questions, 1902-1910 92

7 Love Letters, 1907-1913 115

8 Relief in 'The Barbarous Balkans', 1913 140

9 Conversations with the Dead, 1914-1915 168

10 Surrounded by Action, 1914-1916 190

11 Found in Translation, 1917-1919 209

12 Save the Children, 1919 232

13 Hearts and Minds, 1919-1920 252

14 'Supranationalism',1920-1923 273

15 The Rights of the Child, 1922-1925 300

16 Blue Plaques, 1920-2009 317

Epilogue: Truths and Lives 331

The International Save the Children Alliance 335

Endnotes 336

Bibliography 358

Index 379

Editorial Reviews

Mulley's fascinating biography of Jebb is an in-depth look at life in England in the early 1920s. Born in 1876 and raised in a Shropshire home, Jebb inherited her parents' keen sense of social justice and personal social responsibility. Jebb and her sister, Dorothy, moved to Cambridge in the early 1900s, into what was then the middle of a liberal welfare movement. It was during this pivotal historical time that Jebb began to champion her cause with the belief that social justice is a civil right and not just a benevolent gift. Motivation for Jebb's pioneering acts may have come from her 1913 visit to the Balkans, where she witnessed the post-WWI devastation that would torment her until the end of her life. In her continued drive to create a better social order as well as individual child welfare, Jebb helped form Save the Children, which would forever change the idea of child welfare. Unfortunately, Mulley's book is exhausting in its detail, creating a nagging urge to put it down and walk away. Mulley often interrupts her narrative's intensity with simpering insertions of personal history; and her "baby on board" comparison to Jebb's belief that children are especially vulnerable to abuse and neglect, for example, is embarrassing. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Wonderful, clever and funny, Clare Mulley's lively and intimate biography brings out the humour, inconsistency, willfullness and just excellent energy of Eglantyne."

author of Stuart: A Life Backwards Alexander Masters

"A crisp, masterly biography."

The Good Book Guide

"Brings to life the world of clever and conscientious upper-middle-class women... A valuable account of a forgotten life."

The Sunday Times

"This book tells the tale of one of the twentieth century's most inspirational women... I'd urge anyone to pick up this book and be inspired."

Paul O'Grady

"Meticulously researched...a testimony to Jebb's remarkable humanitarianism."

Oxford Today

"This biography of Eglantyne Jebb, who established the charity to look after children in the chaos that followed the end of the First World War, brings to life a charismatic woman who changed the way the world treats children."

Waterstone's Books Quarterly

An insightful biography of a truly remarkable woman. This portrait is especially poignant 100 years on when Eglantyne’s mission remains as relevant and urgent as ever. We must not forget this woman’s determination, and what she set out to achieve. Her vision serves as an inspiration as we each do our bit for children less fortunate than our own”.

Natasha Kaplinsky

"Kept me up half the night - really fascinating and moving - beautifully written and paced...wonderful."

prize-winning biographer and author of The Age of Richard Holmes

"Unusual and perceptive...all credit to Clare Mulley, a past winner of the Daily Mail Biographers' Club prize."

Daily Mail

"An interesting biography of a fascinating person who deserves to be better known and appreciated for her work."

Oxford Times

This is a truly brilliant book, about a woman who changed the world for the better and forever."

Gordon Brown

"Here is the story of one of the great women of the world who made a real difference to the lives of the most needy children. Told with Clare Mulley’s sure instinct for the lives of others, this is an extraordinary book about a unique woman, a woman for our times."

Michael Morpurgo

"Beautifully constructed and passionately written...evocative, funny and poignant."

Big Issue

"A very readable story which will strike a chord for many."

The Times

"A wonderful biography... All of us who continue to build on Eglantyne’s vision are in your debt for giving us the real human being who inspires our work."

former CEO of Save the Children USA Charlie MacCormack

"Eglantyne Jebb completely revolutionised public perceptions of charity and our collective responsibility towards children. This excellent book makes plain that Eglantyne's vision is just as powerful - and relevant - today as it was then... Those who read this book will be inspired - as I am - by a woman who dared to think the impossible and turn it into reality. Her example lays down a challenge to us all."

former CEO of Save the Children UK Jasmine Whitbread

"Admirably researched... Clare Mulley has done Eglantyne proud. Her informative and sensitively written biography will put SCF's founder, and through her SCF itself, well and truly on the global map."

Church Times

"A fascinating new book."

Western Mail Series

This centenary edition celebrates the life of an indomitable woman. Compellingly written and meticulously researched, this biography is a monument to extraordinary perseverance. Eglantyne Jebb, without any children herself, actually gave her life to stop children being the innocent victims of adult war. I wish she were here today!

Joely Richardson

"A pleasure to read...a combination of Jebb's own mischievous attitude and Mulley's lively style."

The Times Literary Supplement

"A very good read, telling an extraordinary story."

The Guardian

"A most interesting account of a life full of colour and curiosity."

Bury Free Press series

"Sensitive, entertaining and beautifully written, The Woman Who Saved the Children is an absorbing exploration of a life filled with achievement... A sparkling biography of a fascinating woman."

author of England’s Mistress and Becoming Qu Kate Williams

"Wonderful, clever and funny, Clare Mulley's lively and intimate biography brings out the humour, inconsistency, willfullness and just excellent energy of Eglantyne."

author of Stuart: A Life Backwards Alexander Masters

"Sensitive, entertaining and beautifully written, The Woman Who Saved the Children is an absorbing exploration of a life filled with achievement... A sparkling biography of a fascinating woman."

author of Englands Mistress and Becoming Queen Kate Williams

"Sensitive, entertaining and beautifully written, The Woman Who Saved the Children is an absorbing exploration of a life filled with achievement... A sparkling biography of a fascinating woman."

author of England’s Mistress and Becoming Qu Kate Williams

"A very readable story which will strike a chord for many."

The Times

"Unusual and perceptive...all credit to Clare Mulley, a past winner of the Daily Mail Biographers' Club prize."

Daily Mail