The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli

The United States has had a few intense political rivalries in its history, but perhaps the most intense political rivalry ever in the English-speaking world was the nineteenth-century British clash between William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli. In "The Lion and the Unicorn", Richard Aldous traces the two titans from their early lives, and chronicles the personal and political struggles both men had in their respective rises--each had some point at which he believed that his political career might be over. Both went on to tremendous success, however, and the author discusses the protagonists as they battled bitterly in Parliament over some of the most contentious issues Britain faced in the nineteenth century, such as protectionism and free trade, taxes, voting rights, and foreign policy. Aldous documents how both rose to become prime minister, and how each of the two related to Queen Victoria. This volume is just the right length for American audiences--it does not go on and on about arcane topics, but is long enough to provide the general reader enough information about these two giants of the Victorian Age.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It read as easily as a novel. I wasn't familiar with parliamentary politics before reading this book, but that didn't get in the way of the drama of forming governments, jockeying for position, and all the other ins and outs of the Gladstone-Disraeli rivalry. Aldous takes the approach that the reader knows almost nothing about the issues and explains them from teh bottom up. If you have any interest in reading about the inner workings of the British Empire during the 1800's, this is a great read for you.

This is a masterful book about two flawed but fascinating giants of British history. The story sets a fast pace through decades of political rivalry and extravagant backbiting between Gladstone and Disraeli, while also giving us well-rounded and reasonably sympathetic views of their personal lives. The author has chosen an episodic approach to telling his story, using set-piece events to move the narrative along and bring the protagonists into focus against the political world they dominated in the second half of the 19th century. In the end, it's obvious the author admires and enjoys Disraeli somewhat more than Gladstone, but then again, it's easy to see why: Disraeli is the seductive and magical unicorn to Gladstone's priggish (and yet perverse...) old lion. The writing is beautiful and tight and the storyline is perfectly paced. I sometimes finish a book, put it down and breathe a sigh of relief: I finished this book and wished for more. Well done!

Professor Aldous has researched and written well an excellent history of the rivalry between Disraeli and Gladstone. It is a fast paced narrative. A brilliant piece of work. Five stars in every way. Highly recommended.

The Lion beat the Unicorn all round the town. Some gave them white bread, some gave them brown: Some gave them plum-cake and drummed them out of town." The original illustrations of the Lion and the Unicorn in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, created by noted illustrator Sir John Tenniel, bear a startling resemblance to Tenniel's illustrations of Benjamin Disraeli (the Unicorn) and William Gladstone (the Lion) published in Punch. The resemblance is no coincidence according to historian Richard Aldous and the image of the Lion and Unicorn fighting all around the town provides Aldous with a perfect title for his biography of the decades-long political rivalry between two giants of 19th-century British politics. "The Lion and the Unicorn" is an entertaining and very informative look at a political rivalry that changed the face of British politics and presaged the type of personalized electioneering that is found in both the United States and Britain today. Aldous doesn't set out to give a straight-line biography of both Gladstone and Disraeli. He notes that there is plenty of material on their individual lives and that, rather, he has set out to take a comprehensive look at their bitter relationship, a relationship that produced titanic clashes for over 40 years. The result is an almost breathless recitation of a roller coast ride in which a political rivalry turned decidedly personal is played out in Parliament and across Britain. Gladstone, who first entered Parliament in 1832, and Disraeli (arriving in 1837) were both Tories at the start of their career and (ostensibly) political allies. However, Gladstone soon left for the Liberals while Disraeli remained with the Tories. In the process Disraeli remade the Tories into the modern Conservative Party while Gladstone took a loose coalition of diverse groups including Whigs and free-trade Conservatives (Peelites) and turned it into something approaching a modern Liberal Party. Each chapter provides a snapshot on their 44-year rivalry over a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues. High points of the book include the general election of 1868, won by Gladstone, Disraeli's subsequent rout of Gladstone in the 1874 elections, and Gladstone's "Midlothian Campaign in 1880 which marked the rivals' last battle before Disraeli's death in 1881. Aldous correctly describes the 1874 campaign as perhaps the first one waged solely as a public battle between two rivals rather than one on specific issues. As such, when one looks at political campaigns today that seem based on popularity contests one can see where this sort of process had its birth. Aldous does a great job comparing the very different personalities of the two rivals. For example, Disraeli, despite being thought of as a fop and dandy had, once he got married, a loving and very loving relationship with his wife Mary Anne, an older woman to whom he was singularly devoted. Gladstone on the other hand, and despite his de