Charles James Fox

ISBN-13: 9780198201045 / Angielski / Twarda / 1992 / 356 str.

L. G. Mitchell

Opis

Charles James Fox was one of the most colorful figures in eighteenth-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his generation, dominating the Whig party and polite society. As the political rival of Pitt the Younger and the intellectual rival of Edmund Burke, his views on the major issues of the day--the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, parliamentary reform--formed the character of Whiggery in his own time and for years to come. Fox's historical reputation has been hotly disputed. Some have hailed him as one of the founding fathers of Radicalism, others have dismissed him as an irritating and irresponsible impediment to the statesmanship of Pitt. Mitchell's scholarly biography shows that in many ways Fox was a politician through circumstance, not kinship and friendship which to an astonishing degree dictated Fox's politics, and offers striking new assessments of Whiggery and its most potent personality. This penetrating and readable study reveals the man and his mind, and sets Fox firmly within the political and social context of the late eighteenth century.

Recenzje

'This is a comprehensively researched life of Fox, written with immense sympathy and verve, and illuminated by telling quotations and a congenially succinct prose style. Dr Mitchell shows great insight into Fox's character. This is a well-rounded portrait of Fox, free from false sentiment, and expressive of an affection for Fox which does not ignore his failings.' John Derry, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, History, No. 256, June 1994

O autorze

Mitchell is the leading scholar of the Whigs. For OUP he has edited he Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke Volume VIII (OUP, 1989), co-edited The History of the University of Oxford Volume V (OUP, 1986), and is the author of Charles James Fox and the Disintegration of the Whig Party (Oxford Historical Monographs, 1971).