A Woman Lived Here: Alternative Blue Plaques, Remembering London's Remarkable Women - Tapa dura

'A pretty awesome present for the feminist in your life' - Caroline Criado Perez, OBE, author of Do It Like a Woman

At the last count, the Blue Plaque Guide honours 903 Londoners, and a walking tour of these sites brings to life the London of a bygone era. But only 111 of these blue plaques commemorate women.

Over the centuries, London has been home to thousands of truly remarkable women who have made significant and lasting impacts on every aspect of modern life: from politics and social reform, to the Arts, medicine, science, technology and sport. Many of those women went largely unnoticed, even during their own lifetimes, going about their lives quietly but with courage, conviction, skill and compassion. Others were fearless, strident trail-blazers. Many lived in an era when their achievements were given a male name, clouding the capabilities of women in any field outside of the home or field.

A Woman Lived Here shines a spotlight on some of these forgotten women to redress the balance. The stories on these pages commemorate some of the most remarkable of London's women, who set out to make their world a little richer, and in doing so, left an indelible mark on ours.

An alternative Blue Plaque guide that recognises the contribution of London's most remarkable women

It's still possible to glimpse London through the eyes of past generations; many of the homes in which countless, nameless lives once played out are still with us. Less tangible are the stories of those whose legacy endures though their names may have been forgotten.

The homes and lives of more than 900 Londoners are commemorated by the Blue Plaque scheme, but fewer than a fifth of these are women. Allison Vale has sifted through the biographies of generations of extraordinary women to celebrate the lives of some of the most remarkable among them: women of courage, conviction and creativity who were vital to the making of modern London.

A Woman Lived Here celebrates women of science and engineering, social and political reform, journalism and the arts. Fearless trailblazers and uninhibited eccentrics take their place alongside women of quiet but compelling resilience. Of different races, creeds, classes and cultures - some born and bred in London, others immigrants - all of these women challenged and enhanced their world, leaving an indelible mark on ours.