The Self-Fashioning of Disraeli, 1818-1851

Benjamin Disraeli remains a commanding figure in the history and ideology of the British Conservative party, and a remarkable example of ascent to high office from outside the traditional elite. This is the first book to bring together specialists in history, literary studies and psychiatry to show how he successfully fashioned his personality in the formative years before his emergence as Conservative leader. The analysis of this process of self-fashioning - the situation to which it responded, the problems of an outsider’s integration and advancement in British society, the goals it sought to reach, the techniques which it employed, and the sources on which it drew - offers fresh insight into Disraeli’s character and career. Vital aspects of his personality and outlook discussed here include his education, Jewishness, romanticism, orientalism, historical scholarship, and political ideas, and the psychiatric disorder of his mid-twenties, which is examined seriously for the first time.