BOOK REVIEW: WILLIAM PITT THE YOUNGER.

 

My mother in law was giving this book to a charity shop before my wife spotted it in a box and thought I might be interested which of course I was.

William Pitt the elder was quite an influential person in his day but his son was even more so. He dominated Parliament for most of his adult life after becoming Prime Minister at only 24, a feat never likely to be repeated.  Clearly a highly intelligent workaholic and indeed almost certainly an alcoholic 

too, this man literally worked himself to death at the age of 47.

He led the nation through some of the most turbulent times as the Industrial Revolution impacted the lives of so many people, often not in a good way, and of course during the first half of the war with France.  Even out of office his policy of prosecuting the war with France by subsidising continental allies was continued by his successors.

Like many other great public figures,  Pitt was a very clever and complex man with significant personality flaws who possessed the ability to induce hatred among his enemies and adulation in his supporters. He lived for politics only and one can only wonder what he may have achieved if he had taken more care of his health.

Well researched and well written, if somewhat heavy at times, this is a good book on an extraordinary person. If you are interested in the man, the politics of the time or the political response to the French Revolution and the early years of the war , this is the book for you.