2 reviews
Sales Rank: 88228

Media: Paperback
Pages: 496
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.4

ISBN: 0719560004
EAN: 9780719560002
ASIN: 0719560004

Publication Date: August 21, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 2 to 5 weeks

Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - Balfour: The Last Grandee

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Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars

Best study of a continuing enigma April 24, 2008
D. Lowther
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Balfour remains an enigmatic figure. As a mass of contradictions he still poses problems to historians, who are invariably left wondering which diversion he considered his true calling; politician or philosopher? This sense of unease shows itself in every book written on Balfour and, though to a lesser extent, Adams' new biography is no exception. Although not so dazzled by his subject as Max Egremont, whose biography is still a useful introduction to Balfour's life and career, Adams reveals little of the man that was not already known. Happily, he avoids idle speculation regarding Balfour's emotional life and concentrates instead on a refreshingly objective and elegant study of his political beliefs and achievements. This is by far the best biography on Balfour and, although it offers little detailed study of his political career or philosophical outlook, as a general survey of his life and career is unlikely to be bettered.

4 out of 5 stars

The Most Modern of Archaic Politicians December 19, 2007
William D. Freeman (Southern California)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful

Prof. Adams provides the most accurate account ever of this now extinct (as the subtitle indicates) yet facinating breed of politician. A born aristocrat who literally inherited the premiership from his uncle, Balfour served as Tory leader for twenty years during which time he led his party's futile campaign against Irish nationalism and endorsed the Conservatives' suicidal reversion to support for high tariffs which Disraeli had rightly concluded were not only dead but damned. Yet, Balfour championed progressive views on education, was facinated by science and technology and became an outstanding Foreign Secretary under Lloyd George. One can see Balfour, unlike most Victorians, easily settling into today's world consulting a laptop computer while riding in the back of a chauffeured Bentley.