Book Description
This volume covers some of the most dramatic years of Gladstone's political life: his formal retirement from politics in 1875, his return to take the lead in the Bulgarian Atrocities campaign in 1876, the Midlothian Campaigns of 1879-80, and the opening months of his return to power in 1880. ... Read more

Book Description
This Reprint contains private correspondence between Gladstone and his Foreign Secretary, Lord Granville, conducted during the years 1868-1876. The correspondence is between two men who wrote to each other privately, but about matters which were, as Professor Matthew states in his supplementary introduction, "the very stuff of official diplomatic exchange." Edited with full scholarly rigor the correspondence sheds light on the details of foreign policy at a time when Britain was at the height of her power, as well as on a wide range of nonpolitical matters. ... Read more

Book Description
William Ewart Gladstone was both the most charismatic and the most extraordinary of Victorians. His huge public career - in and out of office from 1834 to 1894 and four times prime minister - was consistently controversial and dramatic. His private life was a most curious blend of happiness and temptation. His Christian faith held the extremes of his character in sufficient harmony to avoid disintegration and to produce one of the most powerful political personalities in British history. H. C. G. Matthew's writings on Gladstone are generally acknowledged to have transformed understanding of the `Grand Old Man' of British Politics, and indeed his whole age. Appearing first as Introductions to his definitive edition of The Gladstone Diaries, they have been revised and made available in this volume, collected together in paperback for the first time. Gladstone 1809-1874: 'It deserves to become a classic of the genre' Illustrated London News 'For any aficionado of the high politics - and low life - of the nineteenth century, this book is a must' Observer 'the most sensitive and informed insight to date' English Historical Review Gladstone 1875-1898 (winner of the Wolfson History Prize 1995): 'Rarely can a single scholar have re-mapped a whole historical territory so grandly as H. C. G. Matthew has done in the case of Gladstone in particular and of Victorian politics and culture in general' English Historical Review ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent guide for understanding Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone stands as a giant of Victorian liberalism.First elected to the House of Commons in 1832, he went on to become the dominant Liberal politician of the era, ultimately serving as prime minister four times before retiring in 1894.Such a remarkable life poses a considerable challenge for the biographer, and there are few better equipped for the task than Matthew.His decades-long work as editor of Gladstone's extensively detailed diaries immersed him in the minutiae of the man's life.The insight Matthew gained from this work was reflected in the introductions to the published volumes of the series, which were later collected into this book.

The result is not a biography in the traditional sense.Matthew does not bother to cover Gladstone's life from event to event.Instead, he provides an intellectual portrait of the man, charting the development of his ideas and how they were applied throughout his public career.The result is a challenging work, one which assumes that the reader has a familiarity with the events of the era (for those who don't have one, I recommend supplementing Matthew's book with a historical survey of the period, such as Norman McCord's British History, 1815-1906 or the relevant volumes in the Oxford History of England series).Yet in the end it is an enormously rewarding read, one that offers invaluable insights which historians will use for generations to come in shaping their understanding of the man and the era. ... Read more

Book Description
Gladstone's ideas are far more accessible for analysis now that, following the publication of his diaries, a record of his reading is available. This book traces the evolution of what the diaries reveal as the statesman's central intellectual preoccupations, theology and classical scholarship, as well as the groundwork of his early Conservatism and his mature Liberalism. In particular it examines the ideological sources of Gladstone's youthful opposition to reform before scrutinizing his convictions in theology. These are shown to have passed through more stages than has previously been supposed: he moved from Evangelicalism to Orthodox High Churchmanship, on to Tractarianism and then further to a broader stance that eventually crystallized as a liberal Catholicism. His classical studies, focused primarily on Homer, also changed over time, from a version that was designed to defend a traditional worldview to an approach that exalted the depiction of human endeavour in the ancient Greek poet. An enduring principle of his thought about religion and antiquity was the importance of community, but a fresh axiom that arose from the modifications of his views was the centrality of all that was human. The twin values of community and humanity are shown to have conditioned Gladstone's rhetoric as Liberal leader, so making him, in terms of recent political thought, a communitarian rather than a liberal, but one with a distinctive humanitarian message. As a result of a thorough scrutiny of Gladstone's private papers, the Victorian statesman is shown to have derived a distinctive standpoint from the Christian and classical sources of his thinking and so to have left an enduring intellectual legacy. It becomes apparent that his religion, Homeric studies and political thought were interwoven in unexpected ways.The evolution of Gladstone's central intellectual preoccupations, with religion and Homer, is the theme of this book. It shows how the statesman developed from Evangelism to Orthodox High Churchmanship, on to Tractarianism and then further to a broader stance that eventually crystallized as a liberal Catholicism. It demonstrates also that his Homeric studies developed over time. Neither aspect of his thinking was kept apart from his politics. Gladstone's early conservatism emerged from a blend of classical and Christian themes focusing on the idea of community. While that motif persisted in his speeches as Liberal leader, the category of the human emerged from his religious and Homeric ideas to condition the presentation of his Liberalism. In Gladstone's mind there was an intertwining of theology, Homeric studies and political thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

What a mind!
And what a mind it was!Gladstone was undoubtedly the most deep-thinking and intellectual prime minister Great Britain has ever had.He took as much trouble corresponding with the leading minds of his time (both in England and abroad) as he took with his weekly sermons to his surely often uncomprehending household.He wrestled, often successfully, to bring apparently opposed ideas into a kind of Hegelian synthesis (though Hegel was not one of the authors in his vast library). He was a voracious reader and engaged deeply with everything he read, as the annotations in his books and the memoranda he wrote for himself bear witness.David Bebbington must have read nearly as much, and with as much attention to detail, as Gladstone had done by the time he was Bebbingtopn's relatively young age.He has read deeply not only in Gladstone's own voluminous writings but in practically everything of note that has ever been written about the statesman.

Readers who are acquainted only with Gladstone's political activities will know how much these were affected by his religious beliefs, and they will alos have formed an idea of Gladstone's Liberalism.In this book we can, firstly, trace in detail the progress of Gladstone's religious thought, culminating in due course in the remarkable combination of an intense commitment to High Anglicanism and an equally intense commitment to secure equal political rights to those outside the Church of England.

In his magisterial last chapter, Bebbington shows the architecture of Gladstone's Liberalism: a seamless progression from his moral commitment to the individual to an equally morally-based commitment to the family, the local community, the nation, the international community and to humanity itself.

What is perhaps least familiar to those who know only of Gladstone's religion and politics is how these were integrated not only with each other, but with his study of the Greek classics and of Aristotle and Homer in particular.That he should have let Aristotle shape so much of his political outlook is, once one comes to think about it, not unexpected.However, his debt to Homer - or rather to what he read into Homer - is rather more surprising, distinctly peculiar and even, at least to this reader, positively dotty.Not only did he see in Homer a prototype of his own social and political vision, but this devout Christian was convinced that his God had shown Himself to Homer and his contemporaries in a "primitive revelation".

But in general, notwithstanding this quirky aspect of Gladstone, my long-standing admiration for him has been further enhanced by Bebbington's splendid book.It is not an easy read - partly because Gladstone's style was even more complicated than his thought, and partly because Bebbington occasionally assumes a knowledge which many readers will not have.But then you can always look up what exactly the filioque clause was. ... Read more

Book Description
William Ewart Gladstone was perhaps the greatest colossus of the Victorian Age. Along with his formidable rival, Benjamin Disraeli, he dominated Britain's political scene from the moment of his appointment as chancellor of the exchequer in Aberdeen's famous coalition ministry until his resignation as prime minister in March 1894, four years before his death. In the intervening years, he held the office of prime minister four times.

With this volume, Richard Shannon completes his magisterial biography of Gladstone. Tracing Gladstone's career from his rise to eminence in 1865 until his death in 1898, Shannon documents his emergence as the dominant personality in the Liberal Party, his activities as a statesman, and his decades-long battle with Disraeli.

In his analysis, Shannon pays particular attention to Gladstone's attempts to integrate his religion with his career. Profoundly influenced by his Anglican Christianity, Gladstone approached his causes with a missionary fervor, Shannon argues. This tenacity is perhaps best illustrated by Gladstone's unyielding support of Irish home rule—a position so at odds with Liberal policies that it caused many Liberals to ally themselves with the Conservatives, thereby instigating the decline of Gladstone's own party. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Gladstone was a puffed up bore
Churchill wrote in 'The History of the English Speaking People' that Gladstone's contemporaries thought that he had no judgement, and that the Conservative Disreali government achieved more in five years than the Liberals (of whom Gladstone was prominant) did in nearly fifty.Churchillwas being polite - Gladstone was a pious, pretentious windbag and acollosal hipercrite.He doesn't deserve to have two volumes in this detailwriten about him - he never did anything to justify this amount of effort. Even Gladstone's wife said that he was a bore.

Gladstone comes acrossmuch like a Kennedy- a mediocrity carried aloft by the wealth of a ratbagfather, convinced of his own importance, full of the teachings of the Lordand none of His spirit, only attractive when seen from a distance.Hisfather made a fortune from slave plantations in the West Indies, andGladstone did little to improve on daddy's efforts.He defended slavery inParliament while writing pompous sermons about the responsibilities of thechurch. A mean, miserable specimen who never earnt a penny through his ownefforts, he inherited and spent a fortune but went into a lather of shockand horror when discovering that his butler had been pilfering and sellingpartly used candles from his household.Gladstone never improved on theseefforts, but then, considering his papal like view of his owninfallibility, he never felt the need to.

Gladstone's younger sistertook to dosing herself with opium and wiping her backside with religoustracts.Both behaviours are perfectly understandable for anybody who hadto live with a specimen like Gladstone.I think the sister is far moredeserving of a biography than the brother. ... Read more

Book Description
Gladstone 1875-1898 is the culmination of Colin Matthew's acclaimed study of one of Britain's greatest statesmen. William Ewart Gladstone retired from politics in 1875, but returned for a further twenty years at the forefront of British politics. Gladstone 1809-1874 told the story of
Gladstone's first political career; his second is examined in this volume.
The book tells the story of Gladstone's last three premierships and his dramatic political campaigns as he pursued his often controversial aims, particularly his mission to bring Irish Home Rule to Ireland. Political reform, Egypt, Gordon in the Sudan, and the 'Scramble for Africa' are other major
themes. The treatment of Gladstone's political career is balanced by Colin Matthew's acute discussion of his full and active private life, including his enormous correspondence and prodigiously wide reading. The book ends with a moving account of Gladstone's death and state funeral, the last great
set-piece of Victorian Liberalism.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Invaluable study of Gladstone's later career.
As the dominant Liberal politician of the nineteenth century, William Gladstone is one of the most important figures in the history of Victorian Britain.His diaries constitute an essential source of information about his life and times, and their publication under the editorship of Colin Matthew, was one of the great historical publishing projects of recent times.This book, a follow-up to Matthew's Gladstone, 1809-1874, collects the introductory essays from the volumes of these diaries; together, they provide considerable insight into the later life and career of the most remarkable politician of Victorian England.

In 1875 Gladstone was a fit 65 years old.Though he had announced his retirement the year before, this meant retirement from politics (which he always saw as a second-order activity), as he devoted himself to a number of theological and ecclesiastical debates.He remained an elemental force in politics, however, and his anger with the massacre of Bulgarian Christians by their Ottoman rulers precipitated his return to the political arena.The result was the famous Midlothian campaign, which Matthew defines as one of the great set-pieces in the history of Victorian Britain.

Matthew argues that Gladstone's return to politics was defined by his earlier retirement.The Midlothian Campaign set the stage for his political activity after 1875, which took the form of "campaigns" inspired by unusual crises and special causes.As a result he discovered the politically abnormal issues and orchestrated politics around them - in effect, as Matthew puts it, giving politics a millenarian tone.Gladstone's campaign for the seat was also notable, though, for the introduction of a new type of political communication - the stump speech.This was a product of the changes that Victorian Britain was undergoing, a result of the expansion of the electorate and the emergence of the popular press - for, as Matthew notes, Gladstone's audience wasn't the listeners but the readers of the newspapers which carried his speeches.

Gladstone's success was reflected in the returns from the general election of 1880, which not only saw him triumphant in Midlothian but the return of the Liberals to government as well.Matthew's account of Gladstone's second administration comprises a quarter of the book, and focuses on the main areas of the prime minister's concern.The first was in foreign affairs, where Gladstone was most committed to restoring right conduct after the excesses of "Beaconsfieldism."Here Matthew sees the prime minister as prescient in his concern about imperial "overstretch," recognizing the importance of the economy in defining Britain's strength and worrying about the burden the empire was placing upon it.Yet the occupation of Egypt in 1882 was a measure far more expansionistic than anything undertaken by Disraeli's government, though Matthew notes that Gladstone considered this intervention much more justified than those of the previous administration.Domestically, Gladstone's government was more successful, particularly with parliamentary reform, which Matthew considers the great legislative triumph of the administration.

Yet it was Ireland that ultimately occupied most of Gladstone's attention, becoming the issue that would dominate the remainder of his political career.Upon returning to office in 1880, his government faced rising tension in Ireland over the issue of land, tension embodied in the rise of the Land League.In response, Gladstone wanted to readjust social and financial relationships without an expensive scheme of land purchase.This meant maintaining the predominantly Protestant landowning class, which he believed was the key to keeping order when in fact the opposite was increasingly the case.By preserving the landowners, land agitation grew, which led to more coercion, which in turn led to the demise of Liberalism in Ireland and the growth of the Home Rule movement.

Faced with this problem, the prime minister eventually embraced Home Rule as the solution.Here Matthew charts Gladstone's intellectual construction of his approach towards Home Rule, noting that his conversion to the issue was by gradual evolution rather than sudden change.The key to this process was recognition of the new pluralism in the region and containing it within parliamentary absolutism - a process rooted in the assumption that the Home Rulers were willing to operate within the constitutional sphere.Yet while Gladstone courted the Home Rulers, his assumption that the Liberals would rally behind the measure - which was in line with his traditional "big bill" approach towards handling his party in the House of Commons - proved disastrously incorrect, splitting the party and setting the stage for the Conservative victory in the election of 1886.Though acknowledging the rejection of Gladstone's proposal, Matthew argues that it provided the framework for discussing constitutional revision of the United Kingdom for the century that followed.

While an elderly figure after his defeat in 1885-6, Gladstone retained much of his vigor.Unlike the aftermath of the Liberal defeat in 1874, Gladstone was committed to winning another election in order to form another government which would successfully pass Home Rule.Apart from some initial approaches to Parnell (an overture that was thwarted by the sensational O'Shea divorce case), however, Matthew argues that Gladstone did little to formulate a party consensus on the particulars of a new Home Rule Bill prior to taking office once more as Prime Minister after the weak Liberal victory in the 1892 election.The legislation which emerged was more limited than its predecessor, and though passed by the Commons it was defeated in the Lords, thus frustrating Gladstone's last great legislative measure.With his age increasingly beginning to tell, Gladstone retired in 1894, dying four years later.

Few books can equal this volume in its perceptiveness about Gladstone's later years.A winner of the prestigious Wolfson History Prize when it was first published, it is nessesary and rewarding reading for anybody seeking to understand the life and career of one of the most important figures in modern British history. ... Read more

Book Description
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) was both the most characteristic and the most extraordinary of Victorians. His huge public career - in and out of office from 1834 to 1894 and four times Prime Minister - was consistently controversial and dramatic.His private life was a most curious blend of happiness and temptation.His Christian faith held the extremes of his character in sufficient harmony to avoid disintegration and to produce one of the most powerful political personalities in British history.The book describes Gladstone's early years as a Tory, the great transformation of his political position in the 1840s, his lengthy period as Chancellor of the Exchequer with its long-lasting implications for British financial policy, and his spectacular first administration from 1868 to 1874.It sets in context the remarkable private drama of sexual temptation and moral crisis which from the 1840s onwards accompanied these public developments.The account ends in December 1874, with Gladstone's formal retirement from leadership of the Liberal Party - the move which he intended as his farewell to party politics.Gladstone was perhaps the most influential political leader of modern Britain, and this book is a major contribution to our understanding of his character, his life, and his role in the Victorian political arena. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Superb analysis of Gladstone's early years
William Ewart Gladstone is one of the giants of nineteenth century British politics. First elected to House of Commons in 1832, he went on to serve in a number of offices, most notably as prime minister for an unprecedented four times over a 26-year period.The leader of the Liberals, he left an indelible stamp on the party which spent a generation emerging from underneath his long shadow.

There are few more qualified to study Gladstone's life than H. C. G. Matthew.An accomplished historian, he was co-editor of the third and fourth volumes of the published edition of Gladstone's diaries and lead editor for the remainder of the series.This project forms the basis of his book; taken from the introductions to the third through the eight volumes of the series (with two original chapters added to cover Gladstone's early years), they offer a penetrating examination into the man in the context of his times.

Born in Liverpool in 1809, Gladstone was the fifth child in an Evangelical household.The son of a wealthy merchant, he attended Eton and Oxford, where he excelled academically.Matthew details Gladstone's intellectual and social development during this period, examining both his studies and the circle of friends he had in school.It was the father of one of these friends, the Duke of Newcastle, who offered Gladstone a seat in Parliament from a pocket borough, thus launching the young man on the political career he sought.

Matthew notes that at the start of his career Gladstone was a Tory and a staunch opponent of many of the reform measures being introduced by the Whig governments of the era.Yet while deemed by many to be "the Tories' best hope" for the future, Gladstone's politics were still evolving.Matthew sees the decade from 1841 to 1851 as the crucial period of Gladstone's political development, as he broke from the Conservatives on the issue of free trade and completed his separation with his attack on Disraeli's budget in 1852.Yet as Matthew shows, the decade that followed proved to be the most personally complex period of Gladstone's career.Like most Peelites, Gladstone had no great attachment to the Liberals; in fact, throughout the 1850s his personal inclinations continued to lay more with the Conservatives than with Palmerston.Cooperation ultimately foundered on the social implications of Gladstone's taxing schemes and Disraeli's presence - in the end, Matthew states, Gladstone became a Liberal by process of elimination.

At the same time as he was building his political career Gladstone was also starting a family, marrying Catherine Glynne in 1839 and presiding over a steadily growing household.Matthew provides an insightful examination of Gladstone's private life, particularly with regards to his faith.Embracing Tractarianism after Oxford, he was usually in attendance at church on a daily basis and in many of his writings he attempted to reconcile Christianity to modern civilization.His faith also found expression in an unusual form in his "rescue work" with London prostitutes.Matthew's analysis of this aspect of Gladstone's life is one of the most sophisticated in the book, interpreting his involvement as motivated in part by Gladstone's acknowledgement of (...) the need to confront and overcome temptation - a process that sometimes included self-scourging.In spite of the appearance of this work, though, Matthew concludes that Gladstone ultimately remained within contemporary social conventions and was never unfaithful to his wife.

In 1852 Gladstone joined the Aberdeen coalition as Chancellor of the Exchequer, serving in that office - with a four-year gap between 1855 and 1859 - until July 1866.Matthew considers this the most successful ministerial period of Gladstone's career, as well as the most satisfying on a personal level.Embracing the Liberal ethos of limited government, Gladstone strove throughout his tenure to reduce its role in the economy by minimizing expenditures and shifting finances from tariffs towards a mixture of direct and indirect taxes.Matthew's account of such an intricate and inherently dull subject is excellent, clear in its analysis and straightforward in its explanation of how these policies fit into Gladstone's vision of government and society.This period also saw Gladstone's emergence as a national politician, the unquestioned heir to the Liberal leadership after Palmerston's death in 1865 and Lord John Russell's retirement in 1867.

The final three chapters cover Gladstone during his first ministry.In the aftermath of the 1868 election the administration existed on a foundation of sand.Lacking a counterpart to John Gorst, the Liberals failed to build a party organization in the country, as Gladstone relied on his considerable political skills to maintain his government.Here Matthew concentrates on the issues the prime minister dealt with himself; the broader achievements of his administration, in such areas as education and army reform, are addressed in passing, as Matthew focuses on foreign policy and Gladstone's "mission" to pacify Ireland by addressing discontent over religion, land, and education.The failure of the Irish Universities Bill in March 1873 prompted the resignation of the cabinet; Disraeli's refusal to form a Conservative government forced its return, exhausted and fatally weakened by scandal. When Gladstone decided on dissolution the next year, the result was a Conservative victory and his retirement from politics.Though two more decades remained in political career, at this point he had already left a considerable legacy, one that Matthew has analyzed with an ability and expertise that is unlikely to be bettered. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I loved this book!
Of all the books I've written (and this is the only one), this is by far the best.If you have nothing better to do with your money or time, I highly recommend you add this book to your shopping cart, and get ready for a treat. ... Read more

Book Description
W.E. Gladstone (1809-1898) was prime minister of Great Britain four times during the Victorian era and is considered one of the most important political figures in modern British history. This biography provides a new assessment of Gladstone's life and career, placing him firmly in the context of nineteenth century Britain. Surveying a broad range of source material, Partridge begins by examining Gladstone's early life, education, entry to Parliament and marriage. He goes on to look in detail at Gladstone's terms as prime minister concluding with his fourth ministry, when Gladstone, by now in his eighties, returned to power.Partridge recounts how Gladstone tried and failed to resolve the problems of Ireland, which had become his great obsession, for the last time and eventually reties from politics in 1894 and died a few years later.

This engaging work provides a deep and thorough survey of the life and significance of Gladstone, and is a welcome starting point for all those interested in one of the most prominent and complex characters of Victorian Britain. ... Read more