Kirjahaku

Charles James Fox was one of the most colourful figures in eighteenth-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his generation, dominating the Whig party and polite society. As the political rival of Pitt the Younger and the intellectual rival of Edmund Burke, his views on the major issues of the day - the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, parliamentary reform - formed the character of Whiggery in his own time and for years to come. Fox's historical reputation has been hotly disputed. Some have hailed him as one of the founding fathers of Radicalism, others have dismissed him as an irritating and irresponsible impediment to the statesmanship of Pitt. L. G. Mitchell's scholarly biography shows that in many ways Fox was a politician through circumstance, not inclination. Dr Mitchell analyses the ties of kinship and friendship which to an astonishing degree dictated Fox's politics, and offers striking new assessments of Whiggery and its most potent personality. This penetrating and readable study reveals the man and his mind, and sets Fox firmly within the political and social context of the late eighteenth century.

Lord Melbourne was Prime Minister of England from 1834-1841. As mentor and father-figure to the young Queen Victoria, he exerted considerable influence over the first few years of her reign. He was a man to whom career success came rather late - he was forty-eight years old before he held any major governmental office. In a profound way, his character and thinking had already been determined by experiences outside politics - particularly by his Whig social background and his disastrous marriage to Lady Caroline Lamb. In this, the first biography for twenty years, Leslie Mitchell uses the Melbourne family papers to explore the man behind a politician at the heart of early Victorian politics. William Lamb, the second Viscount Melbourne, might have held office earlier had it not been for his marriage to Lady Caroline Ponsonby, whose scandalous public affaires (including one with Byron), preceded a descent into madness and separation from her husband. Her death in 1828 freed Melbourne to take up the career which was almost his birthright. His views and subsequent political rise and survival in high office (almost by accident rather than design), reveal much about the nature of Whig politics - operating as an extension of family relationships and the expression of the shared values of an élite. As Prime Minister, Melbourne became the closest adviser and father figure to the new queen, who was only eighteen years old at her accession in 1837. Her rejection of Melbourne on her marriage to Prince Albert was abrupt and devastating, and Melbourne never really recovered from it. He became a marginalized figure, out of step with the demands of a fast-changing, newly industrialized world. In this fascinating account, Leslie Mitchell fully explores the private and public life of a man destined for high office and greatly influenced by the women in his life.