Showing results by author "Benjamin Disraeli" in All Categories

While on a visit to the manufacturing towns of the north, aristocrat Charles Egremont encounters beautiful Sybil Gerard singing in the grounds of Marney Abbey. Graceful and angelic, Sybil Gerard is a symbol of religious purity. He also meets her father, a working-class radical, who tells him about the division of England into two nations: the rich and the poor. Moved by the episode, Egremont investigates the conditions of the working poor and witnesses the disturbing after-effects of the Industrial Revolution.

Coningsby marks the beginning of a trilogy of political novels penned by Disraeli in the 1840s, offering a profound glimpse into his perspectives on the political upheaval that followed the Whigs passage of the Great Reform Bill in 1832. While this novel primarily navigates the political landscape, its sequel, Sybil, or the Two Nations, delves into the pressing condition of England debate, highlighting the widening social and economic chasm between the affluent and the impoverished—a gap exacerbated, though not initiated, by the industrial revolution. Although Disraeli may not stand ...

In the heart of the Armine familys financial turmoil, young Ferdinand Armine faces a daunting predicament. Burdened by his grandfathers massive debts and his fathers inability to rectify the situation, Ferdinand finds himself in dire straits. With his meager income and mounting debts from his time in Malta, the only solution appears to be a strategic marriage to his cousin, Katherine, the heiress to their grandfathers fortune. While Katherine admires Ferdinand as much as their grandfather did, he sees the union as a necessity rather than a romance. Just as he resigns himself to a loveless ...

In 1875, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli purchased 44 percent of the Suez Canal’s stock from the bankrupt Egyptian Khedive. He did not consult Parliament, but rather, acted quickly to obtain relative control over this vital point in British trade routes. Disraeli delivered this speech to the House of Commons in 1876, explaining his decision. This choice was ultimately both popular and profitable, and it has been noted as one of Disraeli’s greatest acts as prime minister.

British statesman Benjamin Disraeli delivered this commanding speech in 1872. His imperialistic ideals informed his Conservative political platform as he advocated for maintaining the British Empire. He asked his audience if they were content to be a “comfortable England,” or if they preferred the glory of remaining “a great country - an imperial country - a country where your sons, when they rise, rise to paramount positions, and obtain not merely the esteem of their countrymen, but command the respect of the world.”

Benjamin Disraeli’s powerful, polemical story of love across the class divide Chosen by The Guardian as one of the best 100 novels of all time, Disraeli’s classic 1845 ‘condition-of-England’ novel exposes the inequality and exploitation endemic in 19th century Britain, and the vast gulf...