William Gladstone

The Ministerial Crisis of 1885

The unexpected fall of Gladstone's government in June 1885 was a cause of acute embarrassment to the parliamentary Opposition, whose victory caught them unprepared.

Bismarck and Gladstone Beyond Caricature

Though they are often seen as polar opposites,the architect of modern Germany and the great British Liberal statesman shared more in common than one might think. Roland Quinault draws comparisons.

Gordon and the Slave Trade

Charles Chenevix Trench finds that, as Governor of Equatoria and then Governor-General of the Sudan from 1874-1880, one of C. G. Gordon’s chief concerns was suppressing the slave-trade.

British Prime Ministers: Gladstone

Four times Prime Minister, Gladstone owes his great reputation, A.F. Thompson argues, less to his achievements in office than to his character and personality.

Mr. Gladstone's Last Cabinet

The memories of Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, of the political crisis that Gladstone's final resignation caused at the heart of the British government in 1894.

Prime Ministerial Firsts

Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female Prime Minister on May 4th, 1979. Some other firsts claimed by those occupying the country's highest office.

Hopkins and Patmore: Tory Politics and Poetry

The poets Gerard Manley Hopkins and Coventry Patmore both subscribed to a Tory world view, fiercely opposing the reforms of Prime Minister Gladstone. But their correspondence reveals two very different personalities, says Gerald Roberts.