Ironically, it takes a former Tory Foreign Secretary (with help) to change our perceptions of his most illustrious Victorian forebear. This short study is a complete hatchet job of the icon of one-nation Toryism (Dizzy didn't ever espouse this). In real life Disraeli was vain, unprincipled and treacherous. In death, until now, history has treated him well. This is a wonderfully compelling and refreshing re-evaluation. What next - a Clegg exposé of Gladstone's shortcomings?
(Jeremy Miller - bwl 72 Spring 2014 ) |
