What do you think?
Rate this book
Lothair
Lothair was a late novel by Benjamin Disraeli, the first he wrote after his first term as Prime Minister. It deals with the comparative merits of the Catholic and Anglican churches as heirs of Judaism, and with the topical question of Italian unification.
Benjamin Disraeli, in full Benjamin Disraeli, earl of Beaconsfield, Viscount Hughenden of Hughenden, byname Dizzy, (born December 21, 1804, London, England--died April 19, 1881, London), British statesman and novelist who was twice prime minister (1868, 1874-80) and who provided the Conservative Party with a twofold policy of Tory democracy and imperialism.
Disraeli was educated at small private schools. At the age of 17 he was articled to a firm of solicitors, but he longed to become notable in a more sensational manner. His first efforts were disastrous. In 1824 he speculated recklessly in South American mining shares, and, when he lost all a year later, he was left so badly in debt that he did not recover until well past middle age. Earlier he had persuaded the publisher John Murray, his father's friend, to launch a daily newspaper, the Representative. It was a complete failure. Disraeli, unable to pay his promised share of the capital, quarreled with Murray and others. Moreover, in his novel Vivian Grey (1826-27), published anonymously, he lampooned Murray while telling the story of the failure. Disraeli was unmasked as the author, and he was widely criticized.
Disraeli suffered what would later be called a nervous breakdown and did little during the next four years. He wrote another extravagant novel, The Young Duke (1831), and in 1830 began 16 months of travel in the Mediterranean countries and the Middle East. These travels not only furnished him with material for Oriental descriptions he used in later novels but also influenced his attitude in foreign relations with India, Egypt, and Turkey in the 1870s.
Back in England, he was active in London social and literary life, where his dandified dress, conceit and affectation, and exotic good looks made him a striking if not always popular figure. He was invited to fashionable parties and met most of the celebrities of the day. His novel Contarini Fleming (1832) has considerable autobiographical interest, like many of his novels, as well as echoes of his political thought.
By 1831 Disraeli had decided to enter politics and sought a seat in Buckinghamshire, near Wycombe, where his family had settled. As an independent radical, he stood for and lost High Wycombe twice in 1832 and once in 1835. Realizing that he must attach himself to one of the political parties, he made a somewhat eccentric interpretation of Toryism, which some features of his radicalism fitted. In 1835 he unsuccessfully stood for Taunton as the official Conservative candidate. His extravagant behaviour, great debts, and open liaison with Henrietta, wife of Sir Francis Sykes (the prototype of the heroine in his novel Henrietta Temple [1837]), all gave him a dubious reputation. In 1837, however, he successfully stood for Maidstone in Kent as the Conservative candidate. His maiden speech in the House of Commons was a failure. Elaborate metaphors, affected mannerisms, and foppish dress led to his being shouted down. But he was not silenced. He concluded, defiantly and prophetically, "I will sit down now, but the time will come when you will hear me."
Benjamin Disraeli, in full Benjamin Disraeli, earl of Beaconsfield, Viscount Hughenden of Hughenden, byname Dizzy, (born December 21, 1804, London, England--died April 19, 1881, London), British statesman and novelist who was twice prime minister (1868, 1874-80) and who provided the Conservative Party with a twofold policy of Tory democracy and imperialism.
Disraeli was educated at small private schools. At the age of 17 he was articled to a firm of solicitors, but he longed to become notable in a more sensational manner. His first efforts were disastrous. In 1824 he speculated recklessly in South American mining shares, and, when he lost all a year later, he was left so badly in debt that he did not recover until well past middle age. Earlier he had persuaded the publisher John Murray, his father's friend, to launch a daily newspaper, the Representative. It was a complete failure. Disraeli, unable to pay his promised share of the capital, quarreled with Murray and others. Moreover, in his novel Vivian Grey (1826-27), published anonymously, he lampooned Murray while telling the story of the failure. Disraeli was unmasked as the author, and he was widely criticized.
Disraeli suffered what would later be called a nervous breakdown and did little during the next four years. He wrote another extravagant novel, The Young Duke (1831), and in 1830 began 16 months of travel in the Mediterranean countries and the Middle East. These travels not only furnished him with material for Oriental descriptions he used in later novels but also influenced his attitude in foreign relations with India, Egypt, and Turkey in the 1870s.
Back in England, he was active in London social and literary life, where his dandified dress, conceit and affectation, and exotic good looks made him a striking if not always popular figure. He was invited to fashionable parties and met most of the celebrities of the day. His novel Contarini Fleming (1832) has considerable autobiographical interest, like many of his novels, as well as echoes of his political thought.
By 1831 Disraeli had decided to enter politics and sought a seat in Buckinghamshire, near Wycombe, where his family had settled. As an independent radical, he stood for and lost High Wycombe twice in 1832 and once in 1835. Realizing that he must attach himself to one of the political parties, he made a somewhat eccentric interpretation of Toryism, which some features of his radicalism fitted. In 1835 he unsuccessfully stood for Taunton as the official Conservative candidate. His extravagant behaviour, great debts, and open liaison with Henrietta, wife of Sir Francis Sykes (the prototype of the heroine in his novel Henrietta Temple [1837]), all gave him a dubious reputation. In 1837, however, he successfully stood for Maidstone in Kent as the Conservative candidate. His maiden speech in the House of Commons was a failure. Elaborate metaphors, affected mannerisms, and foppish dress led to his being shouted down. But he was not silenced. He concluded, defiantly and prophetically, "I will sit down now, but the time will come when you will hear me."
304 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1870
9 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Disraeli
1,072 books189 followersOne of the great British politicians of the nineteenth century, Disraeli served twice as Tory Prime Minister (1868 and 1874 - 1880) and was also a prominent figure in opposition. He is most famous today for the bitter hatred between himself and his political rival William Gladstone. He enjoyed the favour of Queen Victoria, who shared his dislike of Gladstone. His most significant political achievements are the 1867 Reform Act, in which he was instrumental, and the creation of the modern Conservative Party, with which he is credited. His literary career was greatly overshadowed by his parliamentary ambitions ('climbing the greasy pole'), but includes both romances and political novels.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 29, 2014
A delightful picture of gardenesque planting can be found in Disraeli's high-flown romantic novel, Lothair; written in 1870, it describes a park planted in about 1800 with all the trees as specimens, no longer in the belts and clumps of Capability Brown.
Page 66 The Pleasure Garden An Illustrated History of British Gardening
Page 66 The Pleasure Garden An Illustrated History of British Gardening
June 9, 2013
If you ever wanted to understand romanticism, Lothair is your book! The title character epitomizes the young romantic hero. Lothair is born into wealth but raised by two guardians, a Scottish protestant and an Anglican priest converted to Roman Catholicism, who subsequently was elevated to cardinal. A good part of the book chronicles the tussle over Lothair's religious loyalties as he comes into his majority and assumes his vast inheritance. Mix this up with Lothair's own religious sentiments and his longings for the ideal woman, which he fixes upon Theodora, who enlists him with the anti-Catholic partisans seeking to overthrow the Vatican, and you have the romanticist novel.
The book stretches credulity at points after Lothair is wounded and tended by a Catholic family after a purported visitation to the daughter by the virgin Mary leads to Lothair's miraculous recovery. The attempts to use Lothair for Romanist propaganda appear nothing short of cult-like. Behind the scenes are the saner elements of British society, his financial advisor and soliciter, Putney Giles, his high society contemporaries, and the Lady Corisande.
I will not spoil the conclusion of this tug of war between extremist, religious, and conservative elements. Personally, I thought Disraeli's poltical novels more interesting, which makes sense given his career in Parliament. So I will only give this 3 stars.
The book stretches credulity at points after Lothair is wounded and tended by a Catholic family after a purported visitation to the daughter by the virgin Mary leads to Lothair's miraculous recovery. The attempts to use Lothair for Romanist propaganda appear nothing short of cult-like. Behind the scenes are the saner elements of British society, his financial advisor and soliciter, Putney Giles, his high society contemporaries, and the Lady Corisande.
I will not spoil the conclusion of this tug of war between extremist, religious, and conservative elements. Personally, I thought Disraeli's poltical novels more interesting, which makes sense given his career in Parliament. So I will only give this 3 stars.
May 29, 2007
Expected more from a literary piece created by the Right Honorable Benjamin Disraeli, but still worth reading - at least to savor and appreciate a sample of his style.
February 2, 2025
Who was Disraeli really on matters of religion?
Why did former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli write this fairly searching exploration of religious feeling, his second straight novel about a young British aristocrat on a spiritual quest, when in private, to his friends, he was inclined to diss all religions and claim he was incapable of religious belief? Thinking about the answer to this question makes “Lothair” (a huge bestseller in 1870 but often poorly reviewed) entertaining despite the fact that it is not the best, most original or most informative of his novels.
Lothair, the title hero, is based on the real-life 3rd Marquess of Bute, an orphan who is reported to have been the richest man in the world in the 1860s but who scandalized Victorian society by converting to Catholicism after turning 21 and reaching his majority. In the novel, Lothair is courted in entertainingly insidious fashion, though not altogether unsympathetically, by a Roman Catholic Cardinal. This character is based on an actual prelate who earned Disraeli’s wrath by switching from an allegiance with his Conservative Party to an allegiance with Gladstone’s Liberal Party, after Gladstone hit on the idea of advocating for the disestablishment of the Irish Anglican Church as a way of pushing Disraeli out of the Prime Minister’s seat. Why Disraeli lost the 1868 election is debated (was it the fact that he expanded the voters with the Reform Act of 1867 and thereby allowed in many new liberal voters?) but it is clear that Gladstone had at least one friend who saw this move as the only way to “get Dizzy out of office.” So it is thought Disraeli wrote this book to get revenge on the real life Cardinal Manning who inspired his Cardinal Grandison.
Lothair, thus courted for his money and influence by multiple religions, finds himself choosing between three women who each represent a religious perspective: a Catholic who is married to God, an Anglican, and a liberal humanist whose religion is her own conscience. It is the third perspective Disraeli writes with the greatest passion, interestingly, and we wonder whether he will finally end with a hero who is not (like Disraeli himself) a member of the Anglican Church.
Many thought Disraeli was incapable of principle, but it’s hard to believe that when he wrote with this much reflection and investment in a subject he could easily not have written about at all. This leads me to suspect he was more than simply a believer in the institution of the church, which he sincerely thought kept England from chaos and revolution. A Jew who joined the Anglican Church as a young boy, Disraeli was enigmatic when it came to religion, writing with particular interest in Judaism but also colorfully about Catholicism and supportively of Anglicanism. The best way to explore who he was perhaps is to read this book and the novel he wrote twenty years before this one, “Tancred.” Inherent therein are keys to the evolution of modern conservatism and liberalism.
Why did former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli write this fairly searching exploration of religious feeling, his second straight novel about a young British aristocrat on a spiritual quest, when in private, to his friends, he was inclined to diss all religions and claim he was incapable of religious belief? Thinking about the answer to this question makes “Lothair” (a huge bestseller in 1870 but often poorly reviewed) entertaining despite the fact that it is not the best, most original or most informative of his novels.
Lothair, the title hero, is based on the real-life 3rd Marquess of Bute, an orphan who is reported to have been the richest man in the world in the 1860s but who scandalized Victorian society by converting to Catholicism after turning 21 and reaching his majority. In the novel, Lothair is courted in entertainingly insidious fashion, though not altogether unsympathetically, by a Roman Catholic Cardinal. This character is based on an actual prelate who earned Disraeli’s wrath by switching from an allegiance with his Conservative Party to an allegiance with Gladstone’s Liberal Party, after Gladstone hit on the idea of advocating for the disestablishment of the Irish Anglican Church as a way of pushing Disraeli out of the Prime Minister’s seat. Why Disraeli lost the 1868 election is debated (was it the fact that he expanded the voters with the Reform Act of 1867 and thereby allowed in many new liberal voters?) but it is clear that Gladstone had at least one friend who saw this move as the only way to “get Dizzy out of office.” So it is thought Disraeli wrote this book to get revenge on the real life Cardinal Manning who inspired his Cardinal Grandison.
Lothair, thus courted for his money and influence by multiple religions, finds himself choosing between three women who each represent a religious perspective: a Catholic who is married to God, an Anglican, and a liberal humanist whose religion is her own conscience. It is the third perspective Disraeli writes with the greatest passion, interestingly, and we wonder whether he will finally end with a hero who is not (like Disraeli himself) a member of the Anglican Church.
Many thought Disraeli was incapable of principle, but it’s hard to believe that when he wrote with this much reflection and investment in a subject he could easily not have written about at all. This leads me to suspect he was more than simply a believer in the institution of the church, which he sincerely thought kept England from chaos and revolution. A Jew who joined the Anglican Church as a young boy, Disraeli was enigmatic when it came to religion, writing with particular interest in Judaism but also colorfully about Catholicism and supportively of Anglicanism. The best way to explore who he was perhaps is to read this book and the novel he wrote twenty years before this one, “Tancred.” Inherent therein are keys to the evolution of modern conservatism and liberalism.
April 30, 2025
Unconvincing, full of flat characters, that doesn't really add up to anything thoughtful or interesting.
May 26, 2011
19th century romance about the coming of age of the hero, Lothair. Very psychological; the author provides an amazingly prescient analysis of the main character and his times.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews