Aristocratic Government in the Age of Reform : Whigs and Liberals 1830-1852

ISBN-13: 9780198217817 / Angielski / Twarda / 1990 / 320 str.

Peter Mandler

Opis

This book challenges the view that there was a smooth and inevitable progression towards liberalism in early nineteenth-century England. It examines the argument of the high whigs that the landed aristocracy still had a positive contribution to make to the welfare of the people. This argument gained significance as the laissez-faire state met with serious reverses in the 1830s and 1840s, when the bulk of the people proved unwilling to accept the "compromise" forged between the middle classes and other sections of the landed elite, and mass movements for political and social reform proliferated. Drawing on a rich variety of original sources, Mandler provides a vivid image of the high aristocracy at the peak of its wealth and power, and offers a provocative and unique analysis of how their rejection of middle-class manners helped them to govern Britain in two troubled decades of social unrest.

Challenges the view that there was a smooth and inevitable progression towards liberalism in early nineteenth-century England. This book examines the argument used by the high Whigs that the landed aristocracy still had a positive contribution to make to the welfare of the people.

Recenzje

`an interesting and original insight on the development of British politics in the 19th century' Times Higher Education Supplement

Spis treści

Introduction: Whiggism and the age of reform; Whiggism and Liberalism, 1780-1850; Aristocratic styles in the age of reform: I. Whigs; Aristocratic styles in the age of reform: II. Liberals and Moderates; Part two: Aristocratic government in the age of reform: Coalition government, 1830-1834; Whig government, 1835-1841; Whig opposition, 1841-1846; The last Whig government, 1846-1852; Epilogue and conclusion: Whiggery in an age of Liberalism