John Bright
Subtitle: statesman, orator, agitator
By: Bill Cash
Publisher: I.B. Tauris; Distributed in the U.S. and Canada exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2012
Place of publication: London; New York; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 328
ISBN-13: 9781848859968
Subjects: Politics and government; Quakers; Biography; Statesmen
Description: "John Bright was one of the greatest British statesmen of the 19th century: in a series of Punch cartoons in 1878, Bright featured alongside Disraeli and Gladstone as the three greatest politicians of the age. However, his impressive contribution to British politics and society has been virtually forgotten in the modern world. Bright played a critical role in many of the most important political movements of the Victorian era - most notably the Anti-Corn Law League, which he founded with Richard Cobden in 1838 and which played a significant role in obtaining the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846. He was also a vehement opponent of capital punishment and supported free trade, electoral reform and religious freedom. He was internationally renowned as an excellent speaker and a copy of one of his speeches was found in the pocket of Abraham Lincoln on the day of his assassination. In this new biography, the first for over 30 years, Bill Cash provides an incisive and engaging portrait of a man who influenced the politics of his generation more than virtually any other. It will be fascinating reading for anyone interested in Victorian politics and society."--Publisher's website.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-316) and index.
Table of contents: title: The unquiet Quaker : battling against the corn laws; title: The corn laws in parliament : harrying Peel; title: Parliamentary reform : Manchester and Birmingham; title: The new democracy : converting Disraeli; title: Lincoln and bright : fighting against slavery and for America; title: A just foreign policy for India and the empire; title: Foreign policy and war; title: Oppression in Ireland and British sovereignty; title: Home rule, party splits and the end.