Disraeli

Reputations

by Edgar Feuchtwanger

The founder of the modern British Conservative party has been described as an adventurer, a charlatan, a clever rogue and a perspicacious politician. These different characterizations have all had their ardent supporters as Benjamin Disraeli rarely inspired indifference from his contemporaries or later commentators.

This new lively study sheds light on Disraeli's controversial life and ambiguous political legacy, providing a portrait of one of the great personalities of the age and the leader of the key political movement of Victorian Britain.

Before becoming Prime Minister in 1874, Disraeli was an exotic, dandified figure. He was a novelist who escaped his creditors, and launched a political career, with his election to a seat in the House of Commons. He showed in his political life a writer's command of the potent image and pregnant phrase. A one-of-a-kind figure in Westminster politics, he was a favorite of monarchs but distrusted or disliked by most of the members of his own party. However, his speeches and writings remain memorable and influential and he has become an iconic figure to a diverse group of modern-day conservatives.

Genres: Biography

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Edgar Joseph Feuchtwanger is a German-British historian. born in Germany, as a boy Feuchtwanger escaped with his family to Britain prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. From 1944 to 1947, Edgar studied at Magdalene College in Cambridge, where he received his doctorate in 1958. From 1959, he taught history at University of Southampton, until he retired in 1989.

Reviews

[Emilija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I read this book, I get the feeling that Feuchtwanger wasn't a fan of Disraeli.

[Andrea Engle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Political biography of the great Victorian Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli ... interesting insight into the intricacies and influences of early party politics ... well-grounded in the social and governmental forces of the period ... however, takes a rather jaundiced view of Disraeli's literary career ... final chapter sums up Disraeli's current status and the many permutations his reputation has undergone in the political world ...