Benjamin Disraeli is one of the most fascinating men of the nineteenth century, reputed to be the most gifted parliamentarian of the nineteenth century. A superb orator, writer and wit, he twice rose to become Prime Minister, dazzling many with his famous epigrams along the way. But how much do we really know about the man? How did this bankrupt Jewish school dropout and trashy novelist reach the top of the Victorian Conservative Party? And why does his reputation continue to have such a hold over British politics today?
In this engaging reassessment, Douglas Hurd and Edward Young explore the paradoxes at the centre of Disraeli's ‘two lives’: a dandy and gambler on the one hand, a devoted servant and favourite Prime Minister of the Queen on the other. A passionately ambitious politician, he intrigued and manoeuvred with unmatched skill to get to - in his own words – ‘the top of the greasy pole’, but he also developed a set of ideas to which he was devoted. His political achievements are never quite what they seem: he despised the idea of a more classless society, he never used the phrase ‘One Nation’ and, although he passed the Second Reform Act, he was no believer in democracy.
By stripping away the many myths which surround his career, Douglas Hurd and Edward Young bring alive the true genius of Disraeli. His real legacy is not political but personal. He was tolerant in an age of intolerance, witty at a time when pomposity was treated as a virtue, imaginative to excess and unstintingly brave. At the heart of Disraeli’s beliefs lay the thought that imagination and courage are the indispensable components of political greatness. That conviction, rather than any particular bill, book, speech, treaty or quotation, is the true legacy of Benjamin Disraeli.
The book ends with a biting critique of the current political arena. Perhaps we have lost the confidence in our politicians because they have lost confidence in themselves, and are too timid to say interesting things: the central problem, argue the authors, that engulfs today’s politics.
About the authors:
Former diplomat and MP from 1974 to 1997, Douglas Hurd served Margaret Thatcher as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, as Home Secretary and as Foreign Secretary. He is the author of a highly acclaimed biography of Robert Peel, as well as a number of thrillers and his autobiography. He lives in Oxfordshire and London. Edward Young gained a first-class degree in history from Clare College, Cambridge, and studied international relations with a Mellon Scholarship at Yale University. He has worked as a speech writer for David Cameron and as Chief of Staff to the Conservative Party Chairman. He currently works at Brunswick Group LLP. Disraeli is Edward's third book written in collaboration with Douglas Hurd. He lives in London.
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