An obscenity trial that shocked Victorian Britain

Published: March 18, 2024, midnight

b'In 1877, Annie Besant took the stand. She was on trial for selling an "obscene publication" \\u2013 a pamphlet designed to educate the masses on birth control. Author Michael Meyer tells Ellie Cawthorne about how this sensational legal case lit a fire under Victorian society, and why the woman at the centre of it decided to represent herself in the courtroom. \\n\\n(Ad) Michael Meyer is the author of A Dirty, Filthy Book: Sex, Scandal, and One Woman\\u2019s Fight in the Victorian Trial of the Century WH Allen, 2024). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dirty-Filthy-Book-Victorians-1877-1888/dp/0753559927/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty \\n\\nThe HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices'