The Most Isolationist Foreign Secretary : The 15th Earl of Derby

Davies, Brian E

Dunbar Publications（2025/11発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 268 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781036965785

Full Description

Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, held some of the greatest
offices of state during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He
was the first Secretary of State for India after the institution of
reforms as a consequence of the Mutiny. He was Foreign Secretary twice,
the first time during the Derby/Disraeli government in 1866/8; and the
second when the Conservatives returned to office in 1874. Following his
resignation in 1878, he eventually joined the Liberals and became
Colonial Secretary in Gladstone's second administration 1880-5.

The weight of historical opinion has largely gone against Lord Derby.
His handling of foreign affairs is typically characterized as weak and
vacillating, a reflection, allegedly, of defects within his own
personality. This book tells a different story. It depicts a man of
principle who fell victim, not to any innate shortcoming, but to the
machinations of less scrupulous colleagues, and to an over ambitious
wife.