Disraeli
$99.00
USDThis concise study of Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81) focuses on the substantial reassessment of Disraeli's career and personality that is currently taking place. Particular reference is made to the role played in Disraeli's conception of life and politics by his Jewishness and his romanticism. The book also seeks to understand Disraeli in a European as well as a British frame of thought. These new elements are set alongside all the principal biographical features of Disraeli's life and career. This "brief life" can therefore be read both as a standard, up-to-date biography of one of the greatest statesmen of the later Victorian age and as a reinterpretation of key aspects of Disraeli's life and times.
- The first book to look at Disraeli's success as a result of his extraordinary personality and the dichotomies which went into forming it; particularly his Jewishness and his Romanticism
- Enjoyable and intelligent style; anecdotal and analytical
- Highly accessible, with great appeal to academic and general reader alike
Reviews & endorsements
"Witty, well written, and perceptive, this is a valuable short take on the greatest Tory prime minister of the 19th century." P. Stansky, Choice
"A strength of Smith's book,...lies in its imposition of some order on Disraeli's otherwise chaotic early life. Smith's biography is a notable addition to the literature, written with a consistent verve and occasional verbosity entirely appropriate to its subject. ...it successfully extends the work of reclamation undertaken nearly a decade ago by John Vincent." Frans Coetzee, Albion
Product details
November 1996Hardback
9780521381505
256 pages
236 × 159 × 20 mm
0.502kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1. The theatre of life
- 2. The theatre of politics, 1832–1837
- 3. The theatre of parliament, 1837–1846
- 4. A leading part, 1846–1865
- 5. Top of the bill, 1865–1881
- Envoi: the primrose sphinx
- Notes
- Index.
