Benjamin Disraeli

--:--
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the major figures in Victorian British politics. Disraeli (1804 -1881) served both as Prime Minister twice and, for long periods, as leader of the opposition. Born a Jew, he was only permitted to enter Parliament as his father had him baptised into the Church of England when he was twelve. Disraeli was a gifted orator and, outside Parliament, he shared his views widely through several popular novels including Sybil or The Two Nations, which was to inspire the idea of One Nation Conservatism. He became close to Queen Victoria and she mourned his death with a primrose wreath, an event marked for years after by annual processions celebrating his life in politics.WithLawrence Goldman
Emeritus Fellow in History at St Peter's College, University of OxfordEmily Jones
Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of ManchesterAnd Daisy Hay
Professor of English Literature and Life Writing at the University of ExeterProducer: Simon TillotsonReading list:Robert Blake, Disraeli (first published 1966; Faber & Faber, 2010)M. Dent, ‘Disraeli and the Bible’ (Journal of Victorian Culture 29, 2024)Benjamin Disraeli (ed. N. Shrimpton), Sybil; or, The Two Nations (Oxford University Press, 2017)Daisy Hay, Mr and Mrs Disraeli: A Strange Romance (Chatto & Windus, 2015)Douglas Hurd and Edward Young, Disraeli: or, The Two Lives (W&N, 2014)Emily Jones, ‘Impressions of Disraeli: Mythmaking and the History of One Nation Conservatism, 1881-1940’ (French Journal of British Studies 28, 2023)William Kuhn, The Politics of Pleasure: A Portrait of Benjamin Disraeli (Simon & Schuster, 2007)Robert O'Kell, Disraeli: The Romance of Politics (University of Toronto Press, 2013)J.P. Parry, ‘Disraeli and England’ (Historical Journal 43, 2000)J.P. Parry, ‘Disraeli, the East and Religion: Tancred in Context’ (English Historical Review 132, 2017)Cecil Roth, Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (New York Philosophical library, 1952)Paul Smith, Disraelian Conservatism and Social Reform (Routledge & Kegan Paul PLC, 1967)John Vincent, Disraeli (Oxford University Press, 1990)P.J. Waller (ed.), Politics and Social Change in Modern Britain (Prentice Hall / Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1987), especially the chapter ‘Style and Substance in Disraelian Social Reform’ by P. GhoshIn Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production
17 Oct English United Kingdom Religion & Spirituality

Other recent episodes

Mitochondria (Summer Repeat)

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the power-packs within cells in all complex life on Earth. Inside each cell of every complex organism there are structures known as mitochondria. The 19th century scientists who first observed them thought they were bacteria which had somehow invaded the cells they were studying. We…
10 Oct 52 min

Thomas Hardy's Poetry (Summer Repeat)

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Thomas Hardy (1840 -1928) and his commitment to poetry, which he prized far above his novels. In the 1890s, once he had earned enough from his fiction, Hardy stopped writing novels altogether and returned to the poetry he had largely put aside since his twenties…
3 Oct 52 min

Charisma (Summer Repeat)

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea of charismatic authority developed by Max Weber (1864-1920) to explain why people welcome some as their legitimate rulers and follow them loyally, for better or worse, while following others only dutifully or grudgingly. Weber was fascinated by those such as Napoleon (above) and…
26 Sep 56 min

Elizabeth Anscombe (Summer Repeat)

In 1956 Oxford University awarded an honorary degree to the former US president Harry S. Truman for his role in ending the Second World War. One philosopher, Elizabeth Anscombe (1919 – 2001), objected strongly.She argued that although dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have ended the fighting, it…
19 Sep 57 min

The Fish-Tetrapod Transition (Summer Repeat)

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the greatest changes in the history of life on Earth. Around 400 million years ago some of our ancestors, the fish, started to become a little more like humans. At the swampy margins between land and water, some fish were turning their fins…
12 Sep 57 min