I am looking forward to listening to Benjamin Disraeli on the In Our Time series broadcast on Radio 4.*
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| Benjamin Disraeli, 1878 |
He was one of those two "giants" of the mid and late 19th century who I followed at 'O' level, 'A' level and across my three years as an undergraduate.
I started my acquaintance with the man aged 15, at which time he was just a name to remember, later I he was one half of the Gladstone Disraeli duo and later still I came to see him as a consummate politician and a way of getting into the world of the period.
"Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the major figures in Victorian British politics. Disraeli (1804 -1881) served both as Prime Minister twice and, for long periods, as leader of the opposition.
Born a Jew, he was only permitted to enter Parliament as his father had him baptised into the Church of England when he was twelve.
Disraeli was a gifted orator and, outside Parliament, he shared his views widely through several popular novels including Sybil or The Two Nations, which was to inspire the idea of One Nation Conservatism. He became close to Queen Victoria and she mourned his death with a primrose wreath, an event marked for years after by annual processions celebrating his life in politics.
With Lawrence Goldman, Emeritus Fellow in History at St Peter's College, University of Oxford, Emily Jones, Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Manchester, and, Daisy Hay, Professor of English Literature and Life Writing at the University of Exeter
Producer: Simon Tillotson"
And yes aged 17 I read his novels.
Location; Radio 4
Picture; Earl of Beaconsfield, K.G. Photographed at Osborne by Command of H.M. The Queen, July 22, 1878 [Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)], 1878, Glossy collodion print on card
*Benjamin Disraeli, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0022z8v
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