The Disraeli Myth: The Making of a Conservative Tradition

Tracing the multifaceted construction and deployment of the Disraeli myth and its legacy in Conservative (and conservative) politicsDuring his lifetime, Benjamin Disraeli, the late-Victorian Conservative Prime Minister (and popular novelist), was often branded as unprincipled and opportunistic-claims that were frequently laced with antisemitism.Yet in the century following his death in 1881, Disraeli’s life and ideas were appropriated, reconstructed and circulated to cast him as the founder of a socially minded “One Nation” brand of British conservatism.In this compelling study, Emily Jones traces the mythologising that made Disraeli a touchstone for Conservative (and conservative) politics.Jones shows how each generation and its political thinkers-from Karl Marx to Margaret Thatcher-has made and remade Disraeli in its own image, seeing in him a source of inspiration or legitimation in different contexts and in support of disparate policies. Drawing on sources that range from political