The Women Who Transformed Journalism

It is now more than 100 years since the first woman became editor of a national newspaper.

She lasted in the job only a few weeks before being replaced by a man. Since then, scores of determined and ambitious women journalists have stormed the offices of Britain's newspapers, beating down all the barriers that tried to keep them firmly out.

But who were the extraordinary pioneering women of British journalism? Their stories are all here, from the superstars such as Marje Proops, Claire Rayner, Jean Rook, Anne Robinson and Mary Stott, to the supporting cast who largely toiled without any recognition.

Many of these women fought their way into jobs previously reserved exclusively for men and they dared to write about things that had never been written about before. Along the way, they built up millions of devoted readers.

The Women Who Transformed Journalism is the story of Fleet Street in its bold, brash, powerful, influential - and often alcohol-soaked - heyday, and of the women who, by their courage, persistence and sheer talent, feminised and humanised national newspaper journalism.