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William Pitt the Younger |  | Author: William Hague
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
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Rating:  9 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1St Edition
Pages: 576
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.8
ISBN: 1400040523
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.073092
EAN: 9781400040520
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Product Description
William Pitt the Younger is an illuminating biography of one of the great iconic figures in British history: the man who in 1784 at the age of twenty-four became (and so remains) the youngest Prime Minister in the history of England. In this lively and authoritative study, William Hague–himself the youngest political party leader in recent history–explains the dramatic events and exceptional abilities that allowed extreme youth to be combined with great power.
The brilliant son of a father who was also Prime Minister, Pitt was derided as a “schoolboy” when he took office. Yet within months he had outwitted his opponents, and he went on to dominate the political scene for twenty-two years (nineteen of them as Prime Minister). No British politician since has exercised such supremacy for so long.
Pitt’s personality has always been hard to unravel. Though he was generally thought to be cold and aloof, his friends described him as the wittiest man they ever knew. By seeing him through the eyes of a politician, William Hague–a prominent member of Britain’s Conservative Party–succeeds in explaining Pitt’s actions and motives through a series of great national crises, including the madness of King George III, the impact of the French Revolution, and the trauma of the Napoleonic wars. He describes how a man dedicated to peace became Britain’s longest-serving war leader, how Pitt the liberal reformer became Pitt the author of repression, and how–though undisputed master of the nation’s finances–he died with vast personal debts.
With its rich cast of characters, including Charles James Fox, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Edmund Burke, and George III himself, and set against a backdrop of industrial revolution and global conflict, this is a richly detailed and rounded portrait of an extraordinary political life.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
 He Wears the Rose of Youth Upon Him February 25, 2005
Leonard Fleisig (Here, there and everywhere)
40 out of 40 found this review helpful
From Which the World Should Note Something Particular. Shakespeare.
There was something astonishingly particular about William Pitt the Younger. The second son of the Earl of Chatham (Pitt the Elder) was a child prodigy. He was admitted to Cambridge at age 14, elected to Parliament at age 21 and appointed Prime Minister at age 24. Twenty-two years later, of which twenty were spent as Prime Minister, Pitt died at age 46.
William Hague was something of a prodigy himself. He gave his first major political address at a Conservative Party Conference in 1977 at age 16. Hague was elected to Parliament at age 28 and became the Conservative Party's leader at age 36, the youngest party leader in 200 years. Hague's rhetorical skills, like Pitt the Younger, are excellent. Some observers (not all of them Conservatives) believed that Hague regularly bested Labour P.M. Tony Blair in debates in the House of Commons. After a losing the 2001 general election and the leadership of his party Hague was asked to write his Memoirs. He indicated that an autobiography was approximately 40 years premature and sat down to write the biography of his idol Pitt the Younger instead.
Hague has done an excellent job here. Although meticulously researched this is a readable, popular biography. Hague's prose style is precise and flows very smoothly.
Hague quickly takes us through Pitts early years and the events surrounding his first election to Parliament. His impact on Parliament was soon felt and within two years King George III twice asked Pitt to form a new government. It was only when Pitt was certain that he could maintain control of a new government that Pitt accepted the King's offer when it was made for the third time.
The first nine years of Pitt's leadership were turbulent but peaceful and it was as a peacetime leader that Pitt demonstrated enormous administrative skills. Pitt virtually created the mechanism by which any government oversees its finances. By the end of that nine-year period Britain's financial position was better than it had ever been before. It was this financial strength that facilitated Britain's survival during the three crises that marked the remaining years of Pitt's time in office: the madness of King George III, the foreign and domestic trials created by the French Revolution and the even greater trials created in the wake of the rise to power of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Hague's narrative style is straight forward and informative as he discusses Pitt's response to these crises. The complexity of the parliamentary and political system of 18th century Britain was Byzantine to say the least. However, Hague, because of his experience in Parliament, was able to explain those complexities without detracting from his narrative. This is no small accomplishment.
One of the most important aspects of the book for me was the discussion of the relationship between Pitt and his major adversary during his entire premiership, Charles James Fox. Hague's discussion of that relationship made Fox quite appealing in many respects. As Pitt steered Britain from crisis to crisis he turned increasingly to repressive measures (squashing free speech, toughening sedition laws and limiting the right to free assembly) to ensure Britain's security from perceived external threats to its security. The largest threat of course was that of the anti-monarchical forces unleashed by the French Revolution. Throughout Fox's years as the leader of the opposition he fought Pitt's repressive legislation every step of the way. Fox stood squarely on the side of free speech and opposed to attempts to sacrifice his fellow citizens' freedoms on the mere declamation of a threat to security. He kept losing those battles but he did fight the good fight.
The battle over the balance between freedom and security is one that confronts us today. Hague's concluding analysis discusses this issue at some length. He is of course favorable to Pitt and defends him admirably. It takes nothing away from the quality of Hague's writing to note that I fell more squarely into the Fox camp.
Hague pays a good deal of attention to Pitt's personal life, particularly his drinking. He was reported to have downed three bottles of Port a day. There is little doubt that this undoubted alcoholism played a role in Pitt's early death. Hague also spends time discussing the lack of women in Pitt's life. He does not shy away from the issue and analyzes in some detail the close relationship he had with his male colleagues. I felt Hague's conclusions, that Pitt was one of those rare totally chaste people whose entire life was focused on one thing and one thing only, to be well founded if a bit speculative.
Hague has indicated that he intended and expected this book to be a popular history that could be enjoyed by any reader. This book lived up to Hague's expectations and also to mine. I recommend this book to anyone with any interest in British history. It is enjoyable and well worth reading.
An exceptional first effort! February 9, 2005
Susan Smith (A small rural village in the English Midlands)
30 out of 30 found this review helpful
William Hague's biography of Pitt the Younger has excited much comment and interest in the UK because Hague was one of the youngest men ever to lead a major political party. As Leader of the Conservative Party in the UK he most certainly had his troubles but he did bring a breath of clean air by virtue of his freshness, commitment and youth. Therefore, it might be fair to say that his own perspective on Pitt would be of exceptional value.
However, he has succeeded in writing a very straightforward and excellently researched biography of Pitt without overlaying his own experiences and views. This is excellent because I wanted to read a biography, not a polemic.
Pitt was the son of one of the most famous politicians of the 18th or any century - William Pitt the Elder. As a young boy he was brought up in an environment saturated with politics and coloured by scholarship and academia. He became one of the most polished parliamentary debaters the world has ever seen and his success was down to a firm grounding in how to argue.
I am particularly interested in the period during which he served as prime minister: the 1780s to 1806. This was a time of great change in Britain: the industrial revolution, the end of the American wars, increased economic successes, the upheaval in France and the inevitable "world war" of Napoleon. Also, there were new liberal ideas coming forth: Catholic emanicipation, an Irish parliament, an end to slavery. Pitt's remarkable achievement was that his sound fiscal acumen allowed Britain to stay solvent, able to afford (just) the long, long Napoleonic wars, whilst at the same time keeping a lid on a fractious Parliament dominated by himself and the always fascinating Charles James Fox. True party politics were evolving into a format recognisable to us today.
Some reviewers on the UK amazon site have criticised the author for not drawing out Pitt's personality. However, I agree with Hague's conclusions that Pitt was, to some extent unknowable in that his entry into high office at 24 and very long tenure meant that essentially the same person at 46 that he was at 24; his dedication and deep sense of public service meant that his political life was akin to a vocation. His personal qualities of loyalty, discretion and tenacity are shown clearly in this book - a lack of histrionic character traits does not mean we do not learn about his personality: rather we learn by default of his robustness of character and his innate sense of service.
I enjoyed this very much. It's quite long but not at all difficult to read. I was particularly struck with the deep and abiding friendship Pitt had with William Wilberforce who encouraged Pitt to end the slave trade. Although the changes in the law did not occur until after Pitt's death, nonetheless it was something he was keen to do. Hague has commented in the British press that he is considering writing a biography of either Pitt the Elder or Wilberforce next; I am keeping my fingers crossed for Wilberforce - someone I'd like to learn more about.
An excellent first book about a man who was as open as a book and yet will always be something of a mystery to those of the modern and more self-seeking world of today because of those personal attributes that made him such a model of public service.
An especially fine biography of a man of unique service March 12, 2005
Craig Matteson (Ann Arbor, MI)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
As a rule, I believe that Americans would be better off if they read and understood more about history. It is important to read widely enough, both in breadth of scope and time, to provide a rich and useful understanding of how things have become what they are. While we cannot read everything, let alone retain it all in our memory, there are certain times, events, and even single lives that can provide valuable structure to our understanding of the world.
In my view, knowing more about the history of Great Britain can help Americans understand more about our origins as a nation, provide a richer context for our founding, get a better fix on our own place in the world through time, and how we grew into a dominant power in the world. This particularly fine biography of William Pitt the Younger concerns itself with the time immediately after Britain's American Colonies became the United States up to Pitt's death in 1806 in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars.
This is an especially rich time in history because everything was in flux and so much was at risk. The French Revolution of 1789 soon became The Terror. Great Britain struggled to recover from the blow of losing her American Colonies and putting herself forward as a still relevant global power. The United States actually benefited in many ways from the Europeans being so absorbed in fighting each other in these decades. However, that is a story for another time.
William Pitt the Younger was the extraordinary second son of the also extraordinary William Pitt. The father dominated the House of Commons for many years including the time during the American Revolution. He was universally loved as The Great Commoner and retired as a Lord. William the Younger was endowed with certain intellectual gifts in fabulous abundance. He had a tremendous capacity for oratory. He trained himself by reading the Classics in Latin and Greek. He learned mathematics particularly as it related to finance. And of course he learned by observing his father's work in Parliament and in discussions with him. He focused his whole life and all his energies to service in the House of Commons with a view only on the position of greatest power.
Britain was adrift when Pitt came to Parliament. Great things were expected of him and his early speeches confirmed his gifts. He sought front line leadership from the beginning and due to his gifts and unique circumstances he became First Lord of the Treasury (what later became Prime Minister) at twenty-four years old. He soon earned the favor of a strong majority and through his scrupulous dealings became known as Honest Billy. He was one of the first to use the rapidly growing newspaper industry as a tool to govern through the development of his image.
He put Britain's finances back in order, protected the monarchy during George the III's bouts of madness, and deftly handled all the governmental issues of the empire including issues involving India and the great trading companies. He completely dominated the Whigs and led the way to the founding of the modern Conservative (Tory) party. He finally resigned after 17 years in power. He did so for many reasons, but the issue that seemed to provoke it was Catholic Emancipation, which the King refused to even consider because he considered it a violation of his duty as King and Head of the Established Church.
Also, Pitt's health was beginning to fail. He had dedicated his whole life to the service of his country and the maintenance of his power and dominance in the House of Commons and the strain was beginning to tell. Pitt never married nor did he develop a new circle of friends or wider interests during his time in power, which was essentially his whole life from his early twenties until his death at forty-six. Hague has some keen observations on the way serving in high political office has the effect of freezing a person at that stage of life until they leave power. Pitt is one of the most extreme examples of this effect.
At the zenith of Pitt's power the French Revolution occurred and was soon followed by the calamity of the Napoleonic Wars. While he led Britain through the wars ably, his gifts for war were not as sure as his gifts for finance. Another issue that he confronted during his time in office was the issue of abolishing the slave trade. Neither the ending the wars nor, nor Catholic Emancipation, nor abolishing the slave trade was accomplished during his lifetime.
Pitt chose Addington as his successor. The response of others can be understood through a little couplet. "Pitt is to Addington as London is to Paddington". He returned to power within a few years, but died in office in less than two years.
As a biographer, William Hague is in many ways a perfect choice for William Pitt the Younger. Hague has an eloquence that is inviting and informs without bogging down. He also brings a special insight into some of the more obscure decisions Pitt made because Hague also served in the House of Commons and came to office in his twenties. Mr. Hague also became leader of the Conservative party (the descendent of the party that rose from Pitt's legacy) at thirty-six and despite losing to Tony Blair, he fully understands the massive demands of front line political leadership. Mr. Hague continues to serve as a Member of Parliament for Richmond, Yorkshire as well as being active in many other duties and activities.
I saw an interview with the author about this book. He said that he would also like to write biographies of Pitt the Elder and Pitt the Younger's friend, Wilberforce, who had so much to do with abolishing the slave trade. I want to encourage him to write both. His excellent writing conveys his passion for this period of history, and his analyses provide helpful and entertaining insights to the way politics worked then and how it works today.
A rounded portrait of a great statesman March 29, 2008
Ralph Blumenau (London United Kingdom)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
William Hague has a pleasant, straightforward and limpid style in which he can convey not only complex political situations, but a warmth of feeling towards his subject and a sensitive and empathic interpretation of behaviour and background.
He begins with Pitt's extremely precocious childhood. He was tutored at home, in large part by his father (whose loving nature may also be something of a revelation to readers). From earliest childhood young Pitt breathed in politics. Hague speculates that he learnt not only from his father's successes (his oratory, his foreign policy), but also from his failures (going to the Lords in 1766, or leaving the post of First Lord of the Treasury to someone else).
There are exciting accounts of several key episodes in his life: his rise to becoming Prime Minister at the age of 24; the Regency Crisis of 1788/9; his resignation over his disagreement with George III over Catholic Emancipation in 1801 (beautifully analyzed), and his promise, after the King's recovery from his recurring malady, never to raise the matter again; the drifting apart between Pitt and his old friend and nominee Addington during the latter's interregnum.
No minister except Walpole has for so long and so completely dominated the House of Commons. Pitt was universally acclaimed as a great orator, though only a very few passages quoted in this book - foremost among them his speech in 1792 advocating the abolition of the slave trade - make for stirring reading these days. Part of the appeal of his speeches is said to have been the cogency of their logical structure and his mastery of detail, which is not so easily conveyed in a book. He was a brilliant manager of the nation's finances - but his own were often in a ruinous state. He could not be bothered to pay much attention to them, and refused to take sinecure offices (except, at the King's insistence, the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports) or a large donation offered by the merchants of the City of London. He was hugely in debt at the time of his resignation in 1801, but he refused all offers of help, from the King, from Parliament, from his successor Addington in the form of sinecure offices, or from the City. Only through help from a handful of his closest friends was the pressure of debt slightly eased.
For Pitt rightly prided himself on his personal probity. He would accept nothing that might be construed as putting him under an obligation; but, though he was personally bored with appeals for his patronage, he did not scruple to allow his lieutenants to manage patronage and bribery on a massive scale, especially at critical moments of his rule. (Hague mentions only in passing his massive inflation of the peerage.)
His finances and his speeches made him a great war leader, but he was less so in the actual conduct of the wars. He underestimated France in the early days and overestimated Britain's military (as distinct from naval) resources. He made miscalculations of the kind that Chatham probably would not have made (though Chatham, of course, had faced a far less dynamic France). He twice (1796, 1797) sought for peace with France because of the immense drain on Britain's financial resources, but, encouraged by a string of French setbacks in 1798 and 1799, turned down the peace overtures Napoleon made immediately after seizing power in France in 1799. In this latter refusal he was strongly backed by his cousin, the hawkish foreign minister William Grenville.
Hague brings out the importance of Grenville throughout Pitt's career. A staunch ally until Pitt's resignation, he became so impatient with Pitt's early forbearance with regard to Addington that he joined Fox in opposition - which George III could not forgive. So when Pitt returned to office in 1804, he could not give a post to Grenville, who then practically became a Foxite Whig. As a result, Pitt no longer had the mastery of the Commons or even of the Cabinet that he had had before, and it added to the strain in those years of Ulm and Austerlitz. By that time Pitt was a shadow of his former self, increasingly exhausted and in dreadful health.
It is on the human side that Hague excels, and there is not always scope for that in the story. Much of Pitt's work in government - finance, trade, administrative reform, the shuffling of seats around the cabinet table - gives little scope to more than the thoroughly workmanlike treatment it receives here. Even the account of the wars with France are no more than that. For me, the best parts of the book deal with Pitt's character. He has generally been considered cold; but he had many close friends in whose company he was witty and amusing. A fine chapter discusses this contrast and shows Pitt, when Prime Minister, as relaxed and warm with family and real friends. There is a long and moving letter he wrote to Wilberforce when the latter announced his religious conversion in 1785. There is an astonishing scene a couple of years before his death when at one moment he was larking around with his intimates whom he allowed to blacken his face with burnt cork, and a moment later, quickly cleaned up, stiffly received political visitors. Between Pitt and his mother there was great warmth and affection. In his letters to her he always made light of difficulties or his poor health, not just because he was by nature optimistic, but because he wanted to spare her worries.
It is astonishing that Hague should have researched and written this book of 592 pages inside two years. The masterly ten-page summing up at the end is not only balanced in its judgments, but tells us a good deal about Hague himself. It is clear that he not only admires Pitt, but feels a great affection for him; and he will make many readers feel the same.
A Man Whose Life Was Politics November 3, 2006
C. E. Fougerousse, Jr. (State College, PA USA)
The younger William Pitt lived a life that is not widely known or appreciated in the USA and this well-written and entertaining biography should help to remedy that. It is so unusual for a super-genius to have the opportunity, interest and special aptitude for politics Pitt had that the example deserves much study. We are fortunate that William Hague, the author, did not become Prime Minister himself in 2001 so that he was free to stay in Yorkshire and complete this work.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
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