Disraeli

Earl of Beaconsfield, British statesman, novelist, and creator of the modern conservative party, Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) was one of the most extraordinary figures ever to reach the summit of British politics. Beginning his political career as an independent radical, Disraeli fought for and lost a seat in Wycombe three times before gaining a place in Parliament as a Conservative member for Maidstone in Kent. With this inauspicious start, Disraeli began a career in which he would...
More Description

Earl of Beaconsfield, British statesman, novelist, and creator of the modern conservative party, Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) was one of the most extraordinary figures ever to reach the summit of British politics. Beginning his political career as an independent radical, Disraeli fought for and lost a seat in Wycombe three times before gaining a place in Parliament as a Conservative member for Maidstone in Kent. With this inauspicious start, Disraeli began a career in which he would ultimately gain leadership of the Conservative Tory party. Maintaining that the Tories, the seeming party of monarchical and ecclesiastical privilege, was in reality the party of the people, Disraeli sought to create for the party a new image that would appeal to the new electorate and reestablish Toryism on a national foundation. That a man of Jewish origin, burdened with debts and regarded as a combination of flashy litterateur and opportunist adventurer, should become leader of the Tory party speaks well of the determination and courage of this parliamentary genius. John Vincent's brilliantly written study gives full weight to Disraeli's views on race, while at the same time analyzing the literature--novels, romances, and political treatises--that he wrote throughout his career.