Gladstone and Women

(Hardback)

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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 rescue prostitutes, 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

'Isba's approach is a careful and informative study of Gladstone's relations with the women who were important to him.' ~ Trevor Fisher, History Today -- Trevor Fisher
"...readers of Victorian Studies ought to take notice of it for the rewarding excursions into one of the massive Gladstone archives, the Glynne-Gladstone papers held in Hawarden. Isba's work there enriches our understanding of three important women in Gladstone's life: his sister Helen (1814-1880) and his daughters Mary (1847-1927) and Helen (1849-1935)...in these cases the issue at stake is the broader scandal of Victorian patriarchy and the demands it places on women...The gains this volume offers to Gladstone studies are modest but welcome and presented by a scholar whose opinions are to be respected...The book is clearly written and relatively free of typographical errors. The book's jacket tells readers that Isba is at work on a life of Helen Gladstone (the elder), and one hopes that the project gets the support it deserves." -William R. McKelvy, Victorian Studies, Summer 2007 -- William R. McKelvy
"[A]n impressive study of a major theme in William Ewart Gladstone's life ... This scholarly and highly readable work is a fine addition to Anne Isba's already well-established reputation for Gladstone scholarship." Reviewed by Chris Wrigley in History, April 2008
Mentioned in Financial Times Magazine * Financial Times *

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.