#10709 The Revolt of Man. Walter Besant.
Walter Besant

The Revolt of Man

Published in 1882, The Revolt of Man by Walter Besant is a comical, dystopian novel about a future England ruled exclusively by women.  It depicts the reversal of traditional Victorian gender roles in a society where younger men are often forced into marriage with much older women. Besant likely wrote the novel in response to the "New Woman" ideal of the late 19th century, and the book reads a lot like an anti-suffragette novel. The book frequently portrays women as the inferior gender in intelligence and ingenuity: "... at no time has any woman enriched the world with a new idea, a new truth, a new discovery, a new invention."  An unabashed anti-feminist work that would be considered both laughable and offensive by today's standards. One of two dystopian novels written by Besant, the other being The Inner House.

Hardcover. First Edition. Octavo, bound in original reddish orange decorated pebble-grain cloth, stamped in black, gold, and blind. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1882. #10709.
Bright copy, with slight spine lean and minor dust-soiling. Binding is tight and pages inside are clean and bright. Rarely found in such nice condition.