Benjamin Disraeli
by Adam Kirsch
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Description
Part of the Jewish Encounter series A dandy, a best-selling novelist, and a man of political and sexual intrigue, Benjamin Disraeli was one of the most captivating figures of the nineteenth century. His flirtation with proto-Zionism, his ideas about power and empire, and his fantasies about the Middle East remain prophetically relevant today. How a man who was born a Jew--and who remained in the eyes of his countrymen a member of a despised minority--managed to become prime minister of show more England seems even today nothing short of miraculous. In this compelling biography, renowned poet and critic Adam Kirsch looks at Disraeli as a novelist as well as a statesman, recognizing that the outsider Jew who became one of the world's most powerful men was his own greatest character. Though baptized by his father at the age of twelve, Disraeli was seen--and saw himself--as a Jew. But her created an idea of Jewishness to rival the British notion of aristocracy. Disraeli was a figure of fascinating contradictions: an archconservative who benefited from England's liberal attitudes, a baptized Christian who saw Jewishness as a matter of racial superiority, a perennial outsider who dreamed of glory for England, which, in the words of one contemporary, became for Disraeli "the Israel of his imagination." show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This was probably not my best choice for an introduction to Benjamin Disraeli. As part of the Jewish Encounters Project, this work intends to address his Jewishness above all other issues. Nonetheless, I found it informative of a political era that was somewhat unknown to me previously. While not a thorough biography, this book covers Disraeli's life from an interesting and important viewpoint, and generally sheds light on British politics in the Victorian period.
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Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Benjamin Disraeli
- People/Characters
- Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 941.081092 — History & geography History of Europe British Isles Historical periods of British Isles 1837- Period of Victoria and House of Windsor Victoria 1837-1901
- LCC
- DA564 .B3 .K57 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Great Britain History of Great Britain England History By period Modern, 1485- Victorian era, 1837-1901
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 85
- Popularity
- 374,671
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (2.50)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
