Robert Dudley

Robert C. Self

Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester

Austen Chamberlain

Robert Dudley, the first Earl of Leicester, was a leading figure at the court of Elizabeth I, and this book presents a scholarly edition of both his two surviving household accounts (from 1558 to 1581), and the fragments of his disbursement books (from 1584 to 1586). The work also includes an appendix of those lists of household servants that have survived. This is the only collection of such information available for such a prominent member of the Elizabethan court, and as such provides numerous valuable insights into the personal finances of members of the Elizabethan aristocracy. It will thus be essential reading for any serious scholar of the high politics of the Elizabethan period.

Household Accounts and Disbursement Books of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester: Volume 6

By the end of the nineteenth century, reform and development of the British electoral system had inaugurated a new style of mass politics which fundamentally transformed the face of the British party system. This book traces the evolution of recognisably modern parties from their roots in the 1880s through half a century of dramatic change in organisational structure, electoral competition and constitutional thought. In the House of Commons the Labour Party replaced the Liberals as the radical answer to the Conservative Party. In the country at large the complex web of Victorian social, regional and religious allegiances gave way to a cruder but more dynamic model of modern political loyalties. The transformation at Westminster and in the constituencies is surveyed in relation to changes to the franchise (including the vote for women), class consciousness, political organisation and doctrine. The comprehensive account explains the varying fortunes of the parties in the face of mass democracy, collectivism, the First World War and economic uncertainty. It also provides a critical insight into the debates and conflicts of interpretation which surround this pivotal period in British political history.

Robert C. Self

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