Pitt the Younger

click here for more details, find new or used items	Robin Reilly Used from £3.60 Pages: 390 (Unknown Binding) ISBN: 030429781X Pub: Cassell Pub date: 1978-10 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 971468

Reader Reviews:

A Well-told Story (0/0 people found this helpful)

I would thoroughly recommend this biography. It is compact in size, and written with verve and elegance in a cutalong style which nevertheless shows evidence of a very thorough knowledge not only of Pitt but all the other great characters of the drama he was part of, including Fox, Burke, Sheridan and of course George III. Reilly clearly enjoys all these characters and makes considered judgments on all of them.

The book starts with equally sharply drawn pictures of Pitt's parents, and his beginning in politics.

One of the most attractive features of the book is its constant use of original sources including countless examples of the very witty asides politicians of this era seem to have delighted in, for instance Pitt, writing a letter about Burke's urging of peace negotiations: 'I return Burke's letter, which is like other rhapsodies from the same pen, in which there is much to admire, and nothing to agree with.'

In describing Pitt's life, Reailly reveals a fascinating era, inhabited by some of the most flamboyant figures of British parliamentary history, where the strong influence of the monarch in all political life had constantly to be reckoned with, and where politicians especially Pitt had to balance their desire for reform against the interests of the nation at a time when France threatened to conquer the world. Pitt's triumph was not so much to achieve any of his goals as to weather the storm well enough to allow those around him to achieve perspective over a period of time.

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