Disraeli: The Romance of Politics - Softcover

Robert P. O'Kell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1442627069 ISBN 13: 9781442627062

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2014

Synopsis

When we think of Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81), one of two images inevitably first springs to mind: either Disraeli the two-time prime minister of Britain, or Disraeli the author of major novels such as Coningsby, Sybil, and Endymion. But were these two sides of his persona entirely separate? After all, the recurring fantasy structures in Disraeli's fictions bear a striking similarity to the imaginative ways in which he shaped his political career. Disraeli: The Romance of Politics provides a remarkable biographical portrait of Disraeli as both a statesman and a storyteller. Drawing extensively on Disraeli's published letters and speeches, as well as on archival sources in the United Kingdom, Robert O'Kell illuminates the intimate, symbiotic relationship between his fiction and his politics. His investigation shines new light on all of Disraeli's novels, his two governments, his imperialism, and his handling of the Irish Church Disestablishment Crisis of 1868 and the Eastern Question in the 1870s.

About this title

Review:

'Highly recommended.' -- E.J. Jenkins "O'Kell is at his most innovative when he reads Disraeli's explicitly political writing against the imaginative backdrop of the novels. [...] The result of this layered reading is that Disraeli's career in fact appears more plausible as its disparate elements are yoked together in an account which incorporates the different tones of his voice." --Daisy Hay

About the Author:

Robert O'Kell is Professor of English, and Dean Emeritus of the Faculty of Arts, at the University of Manitoba.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1442627069
• ISBN 13: 9781442627062
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 622