The Prime Minister (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Trollope, Anthony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192835327 ISBN 13: 9780192835321

Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks, 1999

Synopsis

'though a great many men and not a few women knew Ferdinand Lopez very well, none of them knew whence he had come'

Despite his mysterious antecedents, Ferdinand Lopez aspires to join the ranks of British society. An unscrupulous financial speculator, he determines to marry into respectability and wealth, much against the wishes of his prospective father-in-law. One of the nineteenth century's most memorable outsiders, Lopez's story is set against that of the ultimate insider, Plantagenet Palliser, Duke of Omnium. Omnium reluctantly accepts the highest office of state; now, at last, he is 'the greatest man in the greatest country in the world'. But his government is a fragile coalition and his wife's enthusiastic assumption of the role of political hostess becomes a source of embarrassment. Their troubled relationship and that of Lopez and Emily Wharton is a conjunction that generates one of Trollope's most complex and substantial novels.

Part of the Palliser series, The Prime Minister 's tale of personal and political life in the 1870s has acquired a new topicality in the early twenty-first century.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Can a morally scrupulous English gentleman make an effective Prime Minister? This is one of the enduringly fascinating problems posed in The Prime Minister (1876). And as Plantaganet Palliser, Duke of Omnium, overenthusiastically supported by Lady Glencora, presides over the Coalition government, Trollope reaches into the highest echelons of the English establishment, depicting political realities rather than ideology, portraying social, sexual and domestic politics as well as the public variety. The world of the novel is perplexed and dominated by the handsome impostor Ferdinand Lopez. Even the Duke and Duchess are not immune to his malign influence, as Lopez pursues Emily Wharton for her charm and her fortune, and plots to win membership of that most exclusive of English clubs, the Houses of Parliament.

About the Author:

Nicholas Shrimpton is Emeritus Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0192835327
• ISBN 13: 9780192835321
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 864
• Editor: Uglow Jennifer
• Illustrator: Whistler Hector