Aiming to restore "Whiggery" to a position of significance in Liberal politics of the period, T.A. Jenkins reassesses the role of the aristocratic Whigs in the Liberal Party of the 1870s and 1880s. The leadership of Granville and Hartington is examined, as well as the leadership crisis of 1879-80, and the Whig strategies following Gladstone's return to power in 1880. Presenting an entirely new picture of the nature of Liberal politics, Jenkins asserts that the Irish Question was of central importance in the split of the Liberal Party.

Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) is always remembered for three things: his creation of the Metropolitan Police, his principal role in the repeal of the Corn Laws and his status as founder of the modern Conservative Party. This is quite sufficient to make him the key statesman of the early Victorian period, but there were many other aspects of his personality and politics which make the study of his career uniquely useful for students of the period. In many ways, he can be seen as the archetypal link figure between the pre-Reform and post-Reform political worlds - embodying a strange mixture of...