The Great Rivalry: Gladstone and Disraeli

ISBN-13: 9781784536374 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 240 str.

Dick Leonard

Opis

Benjamin Disraeli and William Ewart Gladstone are without doubt the two most iconic figures of Victorian politics. Their distinctly different personalities and policies led to 28 years of bitter political rivalry during the era. For the first time, this book provides the full story of their rivalry and its origins, comparing the upbringing, education, and personalities of the two leaders, as well as their political careers. Dick Leonard considers the impact of religion on the two men; their contrasting oratorical skills; their attitudes to political and social reform, foreign affairs, and imperialism; as well as their relations with Queen Victoria. In their private lives, he sheds new light on Gladstone s guilt-ridden obsession with "reforming" prostitutes, and Disraeli s almost completely successful efforts to conceal the existence of two illegitimate children. Providing important new perspectives on the two towering political characters of the Victorian Age, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in 19th century British history and politics."