Dizzy
A Life of Benjamin Disraeli
Hesketh Pearson(Author)
Penguin Books Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 25. October 2001
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-14-139089-5 (ISBN)
Description
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) is regarded as the founder of the modern Conservative Party. Although his ancestry was Jewish, he became one of the most popular politicians of the 19th century. Aspiring to "one nation" Toryism, he stole the liberal's clothes by piloting through Parliament the Reform Bill of 1867 which enfranchised large numbers of working men. His grandiose foreign policy proved popular in an age when Britain really ruled the waves. He bestowed the title of Empress of India on Queen Victoria and acquired Fiji, the Transvaal, Cyprus and the Suez Canal. But it was his personality that was extraordinary. He was a reckless gambler with his career, an accomplished novelist, a deadly debater and a man who adored and was adored by his wife, who he claimed he married for her money. Hesketh Pearson's biography presents a glimpse of politics in a more colourful age.
More details
Series
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Illustrations
22 b&w illustrations, index
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 135 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
355 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-14-139089-5 (9780141390895)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Hesketh Pearson was born in 1887 and educated at Bedford Grammar School. After two years in the City of London, he went onto the stage and, apart from seeing active service during the First World War in Persia and Mesopotamia, he continued to act until 1931 when he abandoned his stage career in order to write. His many biographies include those of Gilbert & Sullivan, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. He died in 1964.
Content
Part 1: beginnings; speculative; ben-vivian; partly sartorial; largely personal; social, political and amorous; turmoil; love and money; rebellion and bread; the trustees of posterity; take physic, pomp; peel repeals. Part 2: leadership; at home; in and out; love, war and revolution; second innings; the greasy pole; the impenetrable man; the inevitable hour. Part 3: glory and the gout; three ladies; Elysian fields; Afghans and Zulus; Bendymion.