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William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger

List Price: $35.00
Your Price: $23.10
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An exceptional first effort!
Review: William Hague's biography of Pitt the Younger has excited much comment and interest in the UK because Hague was one of the youngest men ever to lead a major political party. As Leader of the Conservative Party in the UK he most certainly had his troubles but he did bring a breath of clean air by virtue of his freshness, commitment and youth. Therefore, it might be fair to say that his own perspective on Pitt would be of exceptional value.

However, he has succeeded in writing a very straightforward and excellently researched biography of Pitt without overlaying his own experiences and views. This is excellent because I wanted to read a biography, not a polemic.

Pitt was the son of one of the most famous politicians of the 18th or any century - William Pitt the Elder. As a young boy he was brought up in an environment saturated with politics and coloured by scholarship and academia. He became one of the most polished parliamentary debaters the world has ever seen and his success was down to a firm grounding in how to argue.

I am particularly interested in the period during which he served as prime minister: the 1780s to 1806. This was a time of great change in Britain: the industrial revolution, the end of the American wars, increased economic successes, the upheaval in France and the inevitable "world war" of Napoleon. Also, there were new liberal ideas coming forth: Catholic emanicipation, an Irish parliament, an end to slavery. Pitt's remarkable achievement was that his sound fiscal acumen allowed Britain to stay solvent, able to afford (just) the long, long Napoleonic wars, whilst at the same time keeping a lid on a fractious Parliament dominated by himself and the always fascinating Charles James Fox. True party politics were evolving into a format recognisable to us today.

Some reviewers on the UK amazon site have criticised the author for not drawing out Pitt's personality. However, I agree with Hague's conclusions that Pitt was, to some extent unknowable in that his entry into high office at 24 and very long tenure meant that essentially the same person at 46 that he was at 24; his dedication and deep sense of public service meant that his political life was akin to a vocation. His personal qualities of loyalty, discretion and tenacity are shown clearly in this book - a lack of histrionic character traits does not mean we do not learn about his personality: rather we learn by default of his robustness of character and his innate sense of service.

I enjoyed this very much. It's quite long but not at all difficult to read. I was particularly struck with the deep and abiding friendship Pitt had with William Wilberforce who encouraged Pitt to end the slave trade. Although the changes in the law did not occur until after Pitt's death, nonetheless it was something he was keen to do. Hague has commented in the British press that he is considering writing a biography of either Pitt the Elder or Wilberforce next; I am keeping my fingers crossed for Wilberforce - someone I'd like to learn more about.

An excellent first book about a man who was as open as a book and yet will always be something of a mystery to those of the modern and more self-seeking world of today because of those personal attributes that made him such a model of public service.


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