By Barbara Spindel Correspondent The British population numbered more than 40 million people in 1900, but only about 6 million of those were allowed to vote. There were age and property restrictions, but the biggest excluding factor was that no woman was permitted to cast a ballot. Many women, and some men, devoted themselves tirelessly to the protracted struggle for womenâs suffrage. But it was not until 1928 that all women over the age of 21 were enfranchised. Arguably, few suffered as much to achieve that victory than Sylvia Pankhurst. Cultural historian Rachel Holmes describes Pankhurstâs all-consuming activism â which resulted in multiple imprisonments, during which she endured brutal forced feedings â in her excellent and admiring new biography, âSylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel.â But while the activist is best remembered for her work in the fight for suffrage, that was only one act of her long, extraordinary life. She was a talented painter and prolific writer. In addition, she threw herself into revolutionary politics, becoming a passionate anti-fascist, anti-racist, and anti-colonialist.