'Lively and full of fascinating portraits' Juliet Gardiner, Literary Review

Everyone knows three things about the Women's Institute: that they spent the war making jam; some of their members were those sensational Calendar Girls; and that slow-handclapping of Tony Blair.

But there's so much more to this remarkable movement. With a growing membership of 200,000 women of all classes, religions and ages, it has come a long way from its early meetings. Founded in 1915, it counted among its members suffragettes, academics and social crusaders who discovered the heady power of sisterhood, changing women's lives and their world in the process.

'The original social network. . . The WI, as Robinson's book makes vividly plain, is a stunning, ongoing success story' Val Hennessy, Daily Mail Book of the Week

'A spirited and engaging read' Lara Feigel, Observer