Pitt the Elder

Zusatztext

<p>This remarkable book opens at the dawn of the British Empire - with the great sea battle at Quiberon Bay where French ships, intended for the 1759 invasion of Britain, are chased, caught and defeated by a fleet commanded by Admiral Sir Edward Hawke. In this momentous victory Britain effectively settled the outcome of the Seven Years' War and established itself as the world's dominant imperial power.</p><p>At the heart of the conflict with France was William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham and Britain's future Prime Minister. Weaving together military history and political biography Edward Pearce provides a portrait of the man 'with an eye like a diamond' - a man who had close ties with the slave trade and who preached war and British supremacy on a world stage. Alongside detailed descriptions of battles in Europe and North America we follow Pitt's career as a politician - one that was closely intertwined with General James Wolfe at Quebec; American independence; the slow mind of George III and the quick one of the rake and outsider John Wilkes.</p><p>Edward Pearce scrutinises the real man at the heart of the historical events and mystique surrounding the legacy of Pitt the Elder, to present a rounded and masterful portrait of arguably the most powerful minister ever to guide Britain's foreign policy and of an age which marked a new epoch in history, when the balance of power in Europe and the world was set for almost two centuries.</p>

Autorenportrait

Edward Pearce is a political journalist and author. He has been a leader writer for the<i>Daily Express</i>, a Commons sketch writer and leader writer for the<i>Daily Telegraph</i>, a columnist for the<i>Sunday Times</i>and the<i>Guardian</i>, and sketch writer for the<i>New Statesman</i>. He also writes regularly for the<i>Yorkshire Post</i>, and was a panellist on BBC Radio 4's<i>The Moral Maze</i>. He has written over 13 books, from<i>The Senate of Lilliput</i>(1983) to his most recent,<i>The Great Man</i>(2007), a life of Sir Robert Walpole.

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