Lord Salisbury

First published in 1999. Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, born 3 February 1830; known as Lord Robert Cecil until June 1865 and thereafter as Viscount Cranborne until his succession as the third Marquess of Salisbury in April 1868. This is a study of a notably cerebral politician, who revealed the qualities necessary for success and survival in a career to which he appeared unsuited at the start. No prime minister was less inclined to accept conventional wisdom at face value, or to succumb to the routines of office

Introduction 1 Formative Influences 2 The Rising Politician 3 The Second Reform Act 4 The Conscience of the Party 5 The Making of a Statesman 6 The Eastern Question and the Foreign Office 7 A Leader in Waiting 8 The First Premiership and Ireland, 1885–6 9 The New Conservatism in Practice 10 European Security and Imperial Expansion 11 The Politics of Opposition 1892–5 12 Unionist Democracy, 1895–1900 13 The System under Strain: Diplomacy and War, 1895–1900 14 Anti-climax

David Steele