Gladstone and Women

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

William Gladstone, 'The Grand Old Man' of nineteenth-century politics, was Prime Minister four times. Throughout his life, women,including Queen Victoria (with whom he had a somewhat strained relationship - she famouslydescribing him as a 'half-mad firebrand') were of great importance to him. Because he documented his reaction to people and events copiously in his diary and many letters, we know a great deal about his attitudes towards them - and their reaction to him.

Gladstone's most notorious interest in women, was his mission to rescueprostitutes, which he pursued with great vigour and at enormous expense over forty years, spending many thousands of pounds in the process.. Few believed that his interest was wholly innocent, and it was said that he mainly wanted to save the younger prettier ladies of the night.

Reviews

' This whole book is based closely on primary sources ... a brave attempt to assess one aspect of his life, both public and private' Dr Michael Partridge, BBC History Magazine, December 2007
"This study offers only superficial contextualization for Gladstone's experiences with women and therefore sheds little light on Victorian society, politics, religion, and sex. There is no serious engagement with the robust historiography in these areas, or even with studies of Gladstone. Those expecting a book with this title to draw on the insights of gender theory will be disappointed. At times disorganized and repetitious, the book also suffers from numerous editing and proofreading lapses. At many levels, therefore, this work does not realize the fascinating possibilities offered by its subject." -Joseph S. Meisel, The Historian, Vol. 70 No. 4, 2009
Reviewed, Journal of Liberal History. Spring 2009.

Author Bio

Anne Isba read Modern Languages at Oxford and has a doctorate in Victorian Studies. A former journalist, she is the author of Gladstone and Dante, Gladstone and Women and The Excellent Mrs Fry, an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Keele and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.