The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone Vs. Disraeli
This is the way history should be written - This magnificent account of the rivalry between Gladstone and Disraeli is a revelation for anyone who, like me, thought history was a boring list of kings and queens. The book brings to life the role and functioning of the British parliament in the 19th century, which was, in general, dominated by the wealthy, and run in their interests.And who won ? Well Gladstone outlived Disraeli, and became prime minister several times after Disraeli s death. Disraeli s legacy was the idea that the job of the opposition should be to oppose the government, and he laid down the foundations of the modern Conservative Party, and developed the One Nation ideology that kept it as the natural party of government for near a hundred years.Gladstone left a Liberal Party severely split over the issue of Irish Home Rule, and doomed within twenty years to be squeezed out between the confident Conservatives and the growing electoral power of the Labour party. On the other hand he did give his name to the gladstone bag!Queen Victoria survived them both. She adored Disraeli and despised Gladstone. In fact her comment on the two of them makes a fitting epitaph: When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr Gladstone I thought he was the cleverest man in England, but after sitting next to Mr Disraeli I thought I was the cleverest woman in England. A really good read..
What a great read! - I teach history and have been teaching A level 19th century England, including Gladstone and Disraeli. This book naturally was recomended to me and what a good choice it was. The Lion and the Unicorn is a well written, readable and fascinating account of the political duel between these two historical heavy weights as they battle it out in Westminster in the 19th century. It was a great read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the 19th century.
The end of an era - This book was hard reading. By that I mean that it took a lot of effort to reach the halfway mark. From that point on, the narrative sped up and I found it hard to put down. This book is a facinating insight into two wholly dissimilar men, each with their private devils, each with their unique view on the country and how it should be run. I thoroughly recommend anyone to read it, and see for themselves that there is nothing new under the sun - for despite their vision and achievements, they were men with great weaknesses, and to some extent, far more worthy of support than today s British politicians.
Gripping narrative - As a relative newcomer to Victorian political history, I found this to be a fascinating introduction. The interweaving of the stories of these two heavyweights grips throughout, with the protagonists treated in a thoroughly even-handed manner. There may be nothing new as HBH says (although much of it was new to me), but great stories are often worth retelling as long as the telling is worth listening to - it certainly was in this case. I still wonder though, what was really going on with Gladstone and his relationships with those fallen women!
Moderate book but easy to read. - The Lion and the Unicorn is a moderate book which sheds light on the relationship between Disraeli and Gladstone. However it does not really offer anything new to say plus is written at times in a slightly off-putting style where he writes about the protaganists in the present tense like in a novel and then fades suddenly back into historical analysis. This is rather off-putting and takes away form what is an enjoyable book. The lack of anything new and interesting plus analysis also damages the book.