Castlereagh: The Biography Of A Statesman

Local Description

VG.

Description

Secondhand.

Damned in corruscating verse by Shelley and Byron, his coffin hissed at during his funeral, Lord Castlereagh has one of the blackest reputations in British history. But as John Bew shows, this is but a half-drawn portrait. His gripping biography reveals a shy, inarticulate but passionate man; a towering political figure of implacable principles who redrew the map of Europe, fought a duel with a cabinet colleague and would tragically take his own life amid rumours of scandal and madness.

Reviews

'Wonderful ... A Life so nearly complete that it need never be written again' Ferdinand Mount, Times Literary Supplement. 'John Bew has some heavy lifting to do in this consciously revisionist take. It is a great testament to his skills as a scholar and writer that he manages to do so with such aplomb ... stellar' Tristram Hunt. 'In a magisterial political portrait Bew brings Castlereagh and his world sharply back to life' Daily Telegraph.

Author description

Dr John Bew is Lecturer in War Studies at King's College London, where he is also Deputy Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence. He lives in London.