NONFICTION : ANNIE BESANT by Rosemary Dinnage (Penguin: $4.95, paperback; 128 pp., illustrated).

Annie Besant’s long life (1847-1933) had so many unexpected turns that Arthur Nethercot titled his two-volume biography “The First Five Lives of Annie Besant” and “The Last Four Lives of Annie Besant.” Her first life, that of a passionate Christian, ended when she left her minister husband as a matter of conscience after losing her faith. She threw herself into a militant atheism, becoming a leader in the British Freethought movement and then in Fabian socialism.

A prolific writer and famous orator, she was the first woman to endorse publicly the use of contraceptives. She led the London School Board to introduce free lunches and to support trade unions.

At age 42, she converted to Theosophy, an occult religion founded by the Russian emigre Helena Blavatsky. Blavatsky died in 1891, and Annie became the leading figure in the movement until her death 42 years later. She moved to India, where once again her enormous energy and passion for social justice led her into a frenzy of activity. She was honored for her work on behalf of Indian independence by being named one year to preside over the Indian National Congress.

Rosemary Dinnage’s slim biography, a volume in the Lives of Modern Women series, recounts the major events of Annie’s life. While lacking the richness of longer biographies such as Nethercot’s, Dinnage offers a quick introduction to this fascinating and influential woman, weaving together the dominant threads of religious search and commitment to social justice.