Against a European background of the 1848 revolutions and Louis Napoleon's 1851 coup, the 602 letters of this volume cover Disraeli's accession to the leadership of his party in the House of Commons and his first attempts to move the party beyond reactionary protectionism and ultra-Protestantism. In this period, Disraeli works hard at all aspects of his new role, finding 'good men' to bring into the party, patching rifts within it, and establishing a new platform on which to maintain the system of landed aristocracy in the age of free trade. When the chance to form a government comes,...