Eglantyne Jebb perhaps seems an unlikely children's champion; she confessed privately that she was not fond of children, once referring to them to as "the little wretches" and laughing that "the dreadful idea of closer acquaintance never entered my mind". She never married or had children of her own, but she was a passionate woman whose most fulfilling relationship was with Margaret Keynes, the younger sister of the economist John Maynard Keynes. She was also a great humanitarian whose visionary ideas permanently changed the way that the world regards and treats children.

Jebb set up Save the Children with her sister Dorothy Buxton in response to the famine across Europe after the First World War. The launch of a campaign to raise money for children in countries that barely six months previously had been at war with Britain - especially when there was still such obvious need at home - was courageous. Jebb was arrested for handing out uncensored leaflets in Trafalgar Square, but won the support of the crown prosecutor at her trial, who donated the sum of her fine as the first contribution towards her new relief fund. Jebb had soon won huge public support, as well as the backing of celebrities such as George Bernard Shaw wrote "I have no enemies under the age of seven". Motivated by humanitarian compassion, the belief in the need to invest in the next generation to secure international peace, and her very personal, spiritual, Christian faith, Jebb quickly grew the one-off fund into an international development organisation, supported by the Pope and the miners, the British establishment and the Bolshevik Government, the Royalty of Europe and the fledgling League of Nations in Geneva.

Five years later Jebb wrote the pioneering statement of children's human rights that has since evolved into the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most universally accepted human rights instrument in history. "It is not impossible to save the children of the world", she wrote. "It is only impossible if we make it so by our refusal to attempt it."

This award-winning biography was published in May 2009 to mark Save the Children's 90th anniversary, and all author royalties are being donated to the charity's international programme work.[2]

"Unusual and perceptive", Daily Mail

"A pleasure to read", Times Literary Supplement

"A valuable account of a forgotten life", The Times

"Crisp, masterly biography", The Good Book Guide

"This book tells the tale of one of the twentieth century's most inspirational women... I'd urge anyone to pick up this book and be inspired."Paul O'Grady

"Kept me up half the night... really fascinating and moving - beautifully written and paced, wonderful" Richard Holmes, The Age of Wonder

"Sensitive, entertaining and beautifully written, The Woman Who Saved the Children is an absorbing exploration of a life filled with achievement... A sparkling biography of a fascinating woman."Kate Williams, Biographer; England's Mistress, Young Victoria

"Wonderful, clever and funny, Clare Mulley's lively and intimate biography brings out the humour, inconsistency, wilfulness and just excellent energy of Eglantyne."Alexander Masters, Stuart: A Life Backwards

"Eglantyne Jebb completely revolutionised public perceptions of charity and our collective responsibility towards children. What this excellent book makes plain is that Eglantyne's vision is just as powerful - and relevant - today as it was then... Those who read this book will be inspired - as I am - by a woman who dared to think the impossible and turn it into reality. Her example lays down a challenge to us all."Jasmine Whitbread, CEO, Save the Children UK [1]

[1] www.claremulley.com

[2] www.amazon.co.uk