Lord Derby was the first British statesman to become prime minister three times. He remains the longest serving party leader in modern British politics, heading the Conservative party for twenty-two years from 1846 to 1868. He abolished slavery in the British Empire, established a national system of education in Ireland, was a prominent advocate for the 1832 Reform Act and, as prime minister, oversaw the introduction of the Second Reform Act in 1867. Yet no biography of Derby, based upon his papers and correspondence, has previously been published. Alone of all Britain's premiers, Derby has never received a full scholarly study examining his policies, personality, and beliefs. Largely airbrushed out of our received view of Victorian politics, Derby has become the forgotten prime minister. This ground-breaking biography, based upon Derby's own papers and extensive archive, as well as recently discovered sources, fills this striking gap. It completely revises the conventional portrait of Derby as a dull and apathetic politician, revealing him as a complex, astute, influential, and significant figure, who had a profound effect on the politics and society of his time.As Hawkins shows, far from being an uninterested dilettante, Derby played an instrumental role in directing Britain's path through the historic opportunities and challenges confronting the nation at a time of increasing political participation, industrial pre-eminence, urban growth, colonial expansion, religious controversy, and Irish tragedy. This book is likely not only to change our view of Derby himself but also fundamentally to affect our understanding of nineteenth century British party politics, the history of the Conservative party, and the nature of public life in the Victorian age in general, including some of its foremost figures, such as Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, Lord Palmerston, William Gladstone, and Benjamin Disraeli. Volume II opens with Derby's first period as prime minister in 1852 and takes us through to his death in 1869.
评分
评分
评分
评分
这本书的深度远超我的预期,它在处理灰色地带问题上展现了惊人的成熟度。不同于许多传记为了“歌颂”或“批判”而设定的简单立场,作者采取了一种近乎冷酷的客观视角,将所有参与者都置于那个特定情境下进行审视。你会发现,那些看似做出了错误选择的领导者,在当时的语境下,或许已经做出了“最优解”——尽管代价是巨大的。这种对历史必然性和个体局限性的探讨,非常发人深省。我特别欣赏它对幕后操作的展现,那种没有聚光灯、没有掌声的真正政治角力,是真正定义了历史走向的关键。阅读过程中,我不断地在脑海中进行辩论,试图推翻作者的论证,但最终总是被其缜密周详的史料支撑和逻辑链条所说服,这本身就是一种极高的阅读享受。
评分坦白讲,我最初是被它那略显晦涩的书名吸引的,以为会是一部枯燥的历史考据。然而,一旦翻开,我立刻意识到自己错了——这简直是一部悬疑小说般的政治惊悚片。叙事节奏的掌控简直是教科书级别的:时而紧凑得让人屏住呼吸,关键时刻的信息如同碎片般缓缓拼凑,制造出极强的期待感;时而又放缓节奏,深入到人物的私人领域,展现那些不为人知的脆弱瞬间。作者的文笔流畅且富有画面感,特别是对环境气氛的烘托,常常寥寥数语就能勾勒出一个阴郁或压抑的场景。我仿佛跟着主人公一起经历了那些不眠之夜,感受着压力如何在肩膀上积聚成难以承受之重。它成功地将严肃的历史背景包裹在引人入胜的故事外衣下,让即便是对该领域不太了解的读者也能看得津津有味,是近年来少有的、能让人产生强烈代入感的作品。
评分我一直以为自己对那个年代的政治格局已经有了相当的了解,但这本书彻底颠覆了我的认知。它像一把锋利的手术刀,剖开了既有历史叙事下的肌理,露出了那些早已被灰尘覆盖的真相和动机。作者的叙事风格极其克制,避免了过度的煽情,而是通过对事实的精准陈述和对人物心理的间接揭示,营造出一种令人心悸的真实感。我为书中描绘的那些充满理想却又不断被现实侵蚀的知识分子感到惋惜。这本书的魅力在于它的“不可预测性”,即使你知道历史的最终走向,但在阅读过程中,你依然会为每一个关键的抉择点而捏一把汗,深切体会到“历史的偶然性”所蕴含的巨大能量。这是一部需要安静、沉浸的环境下才能完全品味出其精妙之处的佳作。
评分这部作品以其宏大的叙事结构和对复杂人性细致入微的刻画,牢牢抓住了我的全部注意力。作者似乎拥有一种魔力,能将历史的尘埃拂去,让我们直面那些被时间遗忘的决策背后的挣扎与权衡。我特别欣赏的是,它并没有将人物塑造成扁平的符号,而是赋予了他们鲜活的、充满矛盾的内心世界。那种身处高位却又深陷孤立无援的境地,每一步棋都可能引发连锁反应的紧张感,通过精妙的场景描写和富有张力的对话,被展现得淋漓尽致。书中对那个特定时代政治生态的描绘,其细腻程度令人咋舌,仿佛能闻到老旧羊皮纸的味道,听到内阁会议室里低沉的耳语。它不仅仅是一个人物的传记,更像是一部关于权力、理想与妥协的哲学探讨,引人深思,读完后久久不能平静,需要花时间去消化其中蕴含的深意。
评分如果让我用一个词来形容这次阅读体验,那一定是“震撼”。这不仅仅是关于一个政治人物的生平记录,它更像是一部关于“失落的可能性”的史诗。作者对于细节的执着令人敬佩,那些看似无关紧要的旁枝末节,最终都被巧妙地编织进了主线叙事中,成为理解人物命运转折的关键。我尤其喜欢书中对权力交接和内部派系斗争的描写,那种微妙的权力转移,没有硝烟,却比真刀真枪更为致命。文字的密度很高,需要反复阅读才能捕捉到所有的潜台词和讽刺意味。它挑战了我们对“成功”和“失败”的传统定义,迫使读者去思考,究竟是名留青史重要,还是在特定时刻做出了正确的、但注定不被后人理解的决定更具价值。
评分 评分 评分 评分 评分本站所有内容均为互联网搜索引擎提供的公开搜索信息,本站不存储任何数据与内容,任何内容与数据均与本站无关,如有需要请联系相关搜索引擎包括但不限于百度,google,bing,sogou 等
© 2026 book.wenda123.org All Rights Reserved. 图书目录大全 版权所有