An early biographical account of the indomitable Scottish physician and surgeon, Elsie Inglis (1864-1917), by her sister. Inglis was a visionary and founder – “From the Medical College for Women to The Hospice to the Scottish Women's Hospitals, she made things happen, not only because she came up with such practical, concrete ideas, but because she believed in them so fully herself and was able to fire others with her own vision.” – and the first woman to hold the Serbian Order of the White Eagle, the country’s highest honour. Despite the brevity of her account, McLaren assured readers: “it has been possible to incorporate in it some fresh material. Not the least interesting is what has been taken from the manuscript of a novel [The Story of a Modern Woman] by Dr Inglis, found amongst her papers sometime after her death.” (Introduction)


Like her sister, Eva Maria McLaren (1852–1921) was a suffragist, writer and campaigner. She was actively associated with the Woman's Liberal Federation and was Vice-President of the National British Women's Temperance Association. Her husband, MP Walter McLaren, was nephew of John Bright and, like his uncle, championed women’s suffrage in British parliament.

One of a trio of SPCK’s rare ‘Pioneers of Progress: Women’ titles (issued in Paper at 2s. 6d. and cloth at 3s. 6d.), which also celebrated Florence Nightingale (see our copy) and Dorothea Beale.