What do you think?
Rate this book
The Liberal Awakening
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 13, 2018
Halevy's large-scale history is wildly readable and undeniably captivating across a broad sweep. The Tories, headed by a man they distrust, the mercurial and self-interested Canning, are continuously in power over the period; but while they distribute the rewards of office, the policy of the Cabinet, on matters of free trade, Catholic emancipation, support for the democratic revolutions (in Portugal, Greece and the Latin American republics) and the mitigation of the price of bread for the urban labourer, is framed in all points by the Whigs. In fact, the situation is more complex: a range of Tories, including the haughty Wellington and energetic, self-doubting Peel, is aware that governing Ireland, in the face of a de facto state-within-a-state, O'Connell's Catholic Association, will become impossible without removing restrictions on Catholics holding office and placing the Catholic clergy in the pay of the Exchequer. Halevy does not see an awakening; and it is surprising that so major an overhaul of the franchise is in the offing within three years of the book ending.
Displaying 1 of 1 review