The two Mr. Gladstones: a study in psychology and history

Abstract

William Gladstone - four times prime minister of Great Britain, the premier moral spokesman of the Victorian era, a prodigious author, and an unparalleled orator - was among the most revered figures of his age. But there was another side to Gladstone. His sudden bursts of anger in Parliament, aggressive campaigns against opponents, resignations and threats of resignations from political life, and secretive formulations of high policy reveal him as a man of disquieting moods. In his private life, too, there were incongruities. Admired as a loving husband and father, he maintained a long-standing intimacy with a former courtesan. Equally disturbing were his nocturnal rambles among London's prostitutes, ostensibly for philanthropic purposes. This book applies an eclectic and sophisticated psychological framework to Gladstone's life that explains the duality of his character. Crosby traces the disparate threads of Gladstone's volatile personality and shows how he developed a range of responses to emotional stress to shore up his need for an unquestioned control over the events of his life. Gladstone emerges as a man who wrestled with powerful internal conflicts as much as he struggled with the formidable political and social issues of his time.