William Ewart Gladstone: Faith and Politics in Victorian Britain

Description: This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable.

Perhaps the most eminent of eminent Victorians, a master alike of parliamentary debate and public oratory, and regarded as the greatest Christian statesman of his day, William Ewart Gladstone (1809- 1898) governed Britain at a time when the country stood at the apex of the world affairs. In this book historian David Bebbington presents a superb, balanced portrait of Gladstone -- his character, his convictions, his actions, his legacy.

Review Quotes: Church History
"This book may serve as an excellent and readable introduction to the life of one of the most remarkable political figures in British History."

Evangelical Quarterly
"A fascinating exploration of the way in which deep Christian faith inspired and infused the public and private life of a man who bestrode the Victorian age like a colossus."

G. A. Rawlyk
--Queen's University at Kingston
"David Bebbington's William Ewart Gladstone provides not only a remarkably crafted, empathetic yet critical, biography of the great nineteenth-century British politician but also a marvelous historical overview of Victorian Britain. Bebbington has persuasively argued that Gladstone's High Church Anglican Christianity profoundly affected his political life and his evolving political ideology. This richly textured biography should be required reading for all those interested in the fascinating problem of how a variety of intense Christian beliefs actually impinged on nineteenth-century British politics."

Andrew F. Walls
--University of Edinburgh
"An absorbing study in faith and politics, in the relationship of personal conviction to public activity. Gladstone's career, unusual alike in its duration and attainments -- and informed by a questing faith, an impressive intelligence, and prodigious activity -- is an excellent working model for such a study; and it is hard to think that anyone could have carried it out better than David Bebbington has done. Sympathetic but searching, comprehensive but succinct, his book consistently sustains interest, engages thought, and provokes reflection."