Description
Book SynopsisFollowing his earlier surveys of 19th and 20th Century British Prime Ministers, Dick Leonard turns his attention to their 18th Century predecessors, including such major figures as Robert Walpole, the Elder Pitt (Lord Chatham), Lord North and the Younger Pitt.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Road to the Prime Ministership Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford – 'all these men have their price' Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington – 'George II's favourite nonentity' Henry Pelham – Pragmatic Heir to Walpole Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle – Mighty Panjamdrum, Feeble Premier William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire – 'I have no motive but the King's service' John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute – the King's 'dearest friend' George Grenville – Able Premier, Undermined by his own Prolixity Charles Wentworth-Watson, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham – the Conscience of the Whigs William Pitt, the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham – 'I am sure that I can save this country, and that nobody else can' Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Gracfton – Well-intentioned Dilettante Frederick North, styled Lord North – Outstanding Parliamentarian, Pity about the Colonies… William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne – Too Clever by Half William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland – Twice a Figurehead William Pitt, the Younger – Peacetime Prodigy, Less Successful in War Epilogue Appendix Index
