John Bright: Statesman, Orator, Agitator - Hardcover

'With this well-researched, well-written and sometimes deeply passionate book, Bill Cash has singlehandedly saved one of Britain's greatest statesmen from an ill-deserved obscurity. Often using Bright's own fiery language, he has turned the once-forbidding Victorian granite statue back into a flesh-and-blood fighter for justice and human decency. John Bright was a key figure - perhaps even the key figure - in the struggle for democracy in Britain, yet his legacy was largely forgotten until this first-class, encapsulating biography.' - Andrew Roberts, author of Salisbury - Victorian Titan; 'John Bright is a major biography about one of the towering politicians of the Victorian era. Bill Cash not only breathes new life into Bright but delivers an entirely fresh view of both the man himself and his stance as the professional scourge of the upper classes. Bright was always his country's greatest critic, and yet also its greatest parliamentarian. This and all the other contradictions that made up Bright's character receive their full due in Cash's nuanced portrait.' - Amanda Foreman, author of A World on Fire and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire; 'From the campaign for popular democracy to the fate of empire, the American Civil War to the roots of globalisation, John Bright was one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century. Bill Cash's biography restores Bright not only to his rightful place at the heart of Victorian England but also as one of the creators of the modern age.' - Graham Stewart, author of Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Party

John Bright was one of the greatest British statesmen of the nineteenth century. In a series of Punch cartoons in 1878, Bright featured alongside Disraeli and Gladstone as among the most influential politicians of the age. However, his profound contribution to British politics and society has been virtually forgotten in the modern world. Bright played a critical role in many of the most important political movements of the Victorian era, from the repeal of the Corn Laws to Home Rule. In his great campaign leading up to the Reform Act 1867, he fought for parliamentary reform on behalf of the working class and for the abolition of newspaper taxes. Internationally renowned as an orator, he was a dedicated opponent of slavery and champion of the North in the American Civil War. His testimonial for Abraham Lincoln's re-election was found in the President's pocket on his assassination. He was vigorously opposed to the Crimean War and campaigned against the oppression of the Irish tenantry and colonial subjects throughout the Empire. Fiercely independent, he eventually split from the Liberal Party over Home Rule, becoming a Liberal Unionist. In this new biography, the first for over 30 years, Bill Cash provides an incisive and engaging portrait of a man who influenced the politics of his generation more than virtually any other, with important implications for the present day.