Books

Palmerston

Palmerston enjoys a rakish reputation as womaniser, careless aristocrat and the apostle of gun-boat diplomacy. His life-span linked the American war of independence with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the scandalous regency period with the era of Queen Victoria and Albert the good, the French revolution with the birth of the future King George V, the age of pitt with the days of Gladstone and Disraeli.

His political career brought him three times to the Foreign Office and twice to the Premiership. He set out as a dutiful Tory, became the darling of Radicals throughout Europe, and ended his career a 'Old Pam' the personification of British pluck and lion-heartedness. He was liberal in his advice to foreign governments, and never doubted that his chief duty was to foster British interests with resolution and constancy.

But there was more to Palmerston than than bluster and patriotic drum-thumping, as Judd so clearly shows in this sympathetic but never uncritical biography. Palmerston was a meticulous and incredibly hard-working minister, with hardly enough time to make the romantic conquests with which he is popularly credited. He was, moreover, master of departmental details and diplomatic subtleties. Above all, he could be extraordinarily reasonable, even diffident, in private conference. Nor, despite the impact of his 'Don Pacifico' speech, was he a consistently impressive orator. But for all this, he remains the Grand Old Man of early Victorian politics, and Britain's prestige flourished in his hands.

Reviews

"Denis Judd’s book, written in a clear…style and with admirable conciseness, is an excellent summary."
- Times Literary Supplement

"Denis Judd’s treatment of Palmerston is a masterpiece of lively compression…[he] evaluates lucidly and fairly Palmerston’s achievements."
- Birmingham Post