Author:Edward Pearce
There may be a civil war, starting in the Midlands. The Birmingham garrison have rough-sharpened their swords and barricades have gone up in the town. Wellington is trying to form a government without a majority. The Duke says 'The English people are usually quiet; if not, there are ways of making them.' These are the Days of May, High Summer of English Reform. The new Whig government has staggered everyone with a reform bill more drastic than all expectations, one to wipe out rotten boroughs and enfranchise industrial towns. It has passed the Commons, been thrown out by the Lords, then, in an election, is massively endorsed. Now in May 1832, the Lords are again blocking it. Political unions formed to promote reform are denounced for Jacobinism and revolution. One Tory, John Croker, hopes that 'the coming revolutionary regime' will let Princess Victoria 'live quietly as Miss Guelph'. King William IV, influenced by the Court and Queen Adelaide, refuses to make new peers; stalemate may turn into street fighting. The struggle is recorded here. The players, painted vividly, speak in their own voices from 170-year-old Hansards: the radicals, Cobbett and Hunt; the Ultras, Wetherell and Eldon, resisting all reform; Lord Chancellor Brougham, drunk and brilliant in a great speech; Lord Alport, who manages the nightmare legislative struggle, tempted by suicide; a mad backbencher demanding a day of fasting and penitence. Here too are the riots and the quiet politics of British constitutional reform. The outcome - the 1832 Act - is the most important event in the last 300 years of parliamentary history.
An attractively vivid and racy account of events that otherwise might have run the risk of possessing a distinctly musty flavour
—— Anthony Howard , Sunday TimesA model piece of historical writing...A lively, generous-minded and convincing demolition of a contemporary legend
—— Anne Chisholm , Sunday TelegraphNorman Rose...is a master of Britain's internal relations...his knowledge is extensive and his touch assured...In fine, economical, sometimes epigrammatic prose he has written a thoroughly entertaining, absorbing account
—— Ian Gilmour , London Review of BooksWell-researched, well-written and fascinating...a fine work
—— Andrew Roberts , Daily TelegraphNorman Rose sorts out the Cliveden Set for us once and for all...calm, lucid and authoritative
—— SpectatorThe Cliveden Set was long said to be a conspiracy at the heart of the Establishment to appease Hitler. Here, at last is a full exposure of the truth behind the myth. Norman Rose has done a signal service to history, producing a work of profound scholarship written with a wonderfully light touch
—— Piers BrendonAn original and engaging history of the capital ... Cruickshank pieces together [the] evidence with meticulous care to create a compelling portrait
—— Sunday TelegraphRichly informative ...This is a monumental work which leaves no stone unturned in its quest to create a full and brutally honest picture of the lives of Georgian London's dispossessed ... The result is a broad panorama and a compelling thesis which can be considered a commendable contribution to scholarship, as well as a gripping read
—— BBC History MagazineEngagingly and comprehensively assembled. Dan Cruickshank is a humane guide ... His relish for the subject is clear but so too is his understanding of the harsh price often exacted
—— Literary ReviewCruickshank brilliantly sketches the wild whirligig of drunkenness, debauchery, theft, exploitation, merriness, subversion, corruption, lust, fantasy, violence, disease, starvation and early death
—— TelegraphWitty, elegantly written and memorable
—— Architectural ReviewIt is the small revelations about the character of Blair that make this book worthwhile
—— Ross Clark , The ExpressIt's a gripping insight into the ex-PM's ten years of power . . . It will take a lot for many people to read his own take on the rise and fall of New Labour, but those that do might be reminded of the charm and vision that swept him to power
—— News of the WorldI have read many a prime ministerial memoir and none of the other authors has been as self-deprecating, as willing to admit mistakes and to tell jokes against themselves
—— Mary Ann Sieghart , The IndependentPaints a candid picture of his friend and rival, Gordon Brown, and of their relationship
—— Patrick Hennessy , The Sunday Telegraph
zpostcode
Recruit
weather
mreligion
Yellowpages
sport
constellation
shopping
name
game
directory
literature
Word
tour
furnish
Lottery
tftnews
lyrics
News
digital
car
dir
Edu
Finance
