Nineteenth Century Premiers

Pitt to Rosebery

D. Leonard

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN:
  9781403939098
• eBook ISBN:
  9780230227255
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Following A Century of Premiers: Salisbury to Blair, Leonard turns his attention to their 19th Century predecessors. In a series of 20 biographical essays, he recounts the principal events of their political careers, assesses their performance as Prime Ministers, and asks what lasting influence they have had.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 William Pitt, the Younger – Reformer Turned Reactionary?
• 2 Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth – Better than His Reputation?
• 3 William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville – Not Quite 'All the Talents'
• 4 William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland – Whig into Tory
• 5 Spencer Perceval – Struck Down in His Prime
• 6 Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool – Keeping the Show on the Road
• 7 George Canning – in the Footsteps of Pitt
• 8 Frederick John Robinson, Viscount Goderich, 1st Earl of Ripon – Inadequate Stopgap
• 9 Arthur Wesley (Wellesley), 1st Duke of Wellington – Military Hero, Political Misfit?
• 10 Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey – In the Footsteps of Fox
• 11 William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne – Mentor to a Young Monarch
• 12 Sir Robert Peel – Arch Pragmatist or Tory Traitor?
• 13 Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell – from Whig to Liberal
• 14 Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby – 'The Brilliant Chief, Irregularly Great'
• 15 George Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen – Failure or Scapegoat?
• 16 Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston – Master Diplomat or Playground Bully?
• 17 Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield – Climbing 'the Greasy Pole'
• 18 William Ewart Gladstone – From 'Stern Unbending Tory' to 'the People's William'
• 19 Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury – Skilful Opponent of Reform
• 20 Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery – Seeking 'the Palm without the Dust'
• Appendix – Prime Ministers of the Nineteenth Century
• Index