Castlereagh A Life

by Bew, John

• ISBN13: 9780199931590
• ISBN10: 0199931593
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-09-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Hardly a figure is more maligned in British history than Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh. One of the central figures of the Napoleonic Era and the man primarily responsible for fashioning Britain's strategy at the Congress of Vienna, Castlereagh was widely respected by the great powers ofEurope and America, yet despised by his countrymen and those he sought to serve. A shrewd diplomat, he is credited with being one of the first great practitioners of Realpolitik and its cold-eyed and calculating view of the relations between nations. Over the course of his career, he crushed anIrish rebellion and abolished the Irish parliament, imprisoned his former friends, created the largest British army in history, and redrew the map of Europe. Today, Castlereagh is largely forgotten except as a tyrant who denied the freedoms won by the French and American revolutions. John Bew's fascinating biography restores the statesman to his place in history, offering a nuanced picture of a shy, often inarticulate figure whose mind captured thecomplexity of the European Enlightenment unlike any other. Bew tells a gripping story, beginning with the Year of the French when Napoleon sent troops in support of a revolution in Ireland, and traces Castlereagh's evolution across the Napoleonic Wars, the diplomatic power struggles of 1814-5, andeventually the mental breakdown that ended his life. Skillfully balancing the dimensions of Castlereagh's intellectual life with his Irish heritage, Bew's definitive work brings Castleragh alive in all his complexity, variety and depth.

Author Biography

John Bew is Reader in History and Foreign Policy at the War Studies Department at King's College London. He is also Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence and runs the Foreign Policy Research Group at King's. He writes for the Irish Times, London Review of Books, Spectator, Parliamentary Brief, Standpoint and Times Higher Education Supplement. This is his fourth book.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowlegements	p. xi
Maps	p. xv
Prologue	p. xxi
Enlightenment and Apostasy	p. 1
Ireland's Robespierre	p. 3
New Light	p. 6
The Whig World	p. 15
English Head, Irish Heart	p. 22
Caesar in Ireland?	p. 33
The Reforming Giant and the Limits of Reason	p. 42
Insular Dignity and Abstracted Freedom	p. 56
Ragamuffins into Soldiers	p. 62
A Romping Piece of Flesh	p. 72
Pitt-ized with a Vengeance	p. 79
Voltaire's Ideal Monster	p. 89
Political Delinquency	p. 96
The Wind and the Weather	p. 104
Pitt's Henchman	p. 109
A Lavaterian Eye	p. 125
Erin's Death	p. 131
Ireland Extinguished	p. 145
The Mists that Overhang the Union	p. 158
The English Minister: Rise, Fall and Redemption, 1801-1814	p. 163
A Millstone about the Neck of Britain	p. 165
A Clog Hung About a Dog's Neck	p. 172
The Protégé	p. 182
The Return to War	p. 187
England's Trouble, Ireland's Opportunity	p. 193
Winding the Family Clock	p. 199
Pitt's Heir?	p. 207
Pitt's Shadow	p. 216
Two Irishmen in London	p. 221
The Continental Foothold	p. 227
Britannia Sickens	p. 234
Unwilling to Give Up a Hero	p. 242
The New Front	p. 247
Weak Friends and Perfidious Enemies	p. 257
Lord Castaway	p. 268
London Grows Thin	p. 275
Private Honour	p. 282
Independent Patriot	p. 286
The Knight of Old Returns	p. 298
In Search of the Sixth Coalition	p. 311
One Cause or Nothing	p. 319
On the Rhine	p. 332
Is it Peace?	p. 339
Paris at Last	p. 347
First Among Equals	p. 353
Peace in Paris	p. 355
The Gilded Age	p. 362
Pleasure Bent in Vienna	p. 370
The Congress	p. 376
John Bull Fights Best, When He is Not Tied	p. 390
Bringing Back the World to Peaceful Habits	p. 401
In Defence of the Allies	p. 412
Back to the Bustle	p. 419
Enough to Destroy the Health of Hercules	p. 429
An Entire Fearlessness	p. 441
Like Wretches in a Slave-Ship	p. 450
Meeting Murder	p. 458
With Pistols in His Breeches	p. 469
John Bull's Compass	p. 478
Swellfoot the Tyrant	p. 487
All We Ask of Our Allies	p. 496
A Mixture of Warp and Woof	p. 510
Mont Blanc Goes On	p. 518
The Malaprop Cicero	p. 527
The Cup Overflows	p. 537
So He Has Cut His Throat	p. 545
Conclusion - Never a Teacher of Men	p. 558
Notes	p. 588
Bibliography	p. 685
Index	p. 707
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