Through an analysis of the domestic context for Lord Palmerston's foreign policy, this text offers a different interpretation of mid-Victorian politics and of the career of one of the Victorian period's most important figures. Combining a traditional high political approach with a broad examination of popular politics, it provides a fresh reading of the politics of Palmerston's foreign policy and its bearing on the development of the Liberal party as well as considering its relationship to Palmerston's own political position. David Brown examines in detail the construction and meaning of Palmerston's reputation as the "national" minister and how the careful projection of this popular image to a wide audience allowed him to bring to bear on parliamentary politics a broad range of extra-parliamentary influences.

The first study to examine in detail the construction and meaning of Palmerston's reputation as the "national" minister and how the careful projection of this popular image to a wide audience allowed him to bring to bear on parliamentary politics a broad range of extra-parliamentary influences.

Palmerston and the Politics of Foreign Policy, 1846-1855 offers a new interpretation of mid-Victorian politics and of the career of one of the period’s most important figures, Lord Palmerston, through an analysis of the domestic context for his foreign policy. Combining a traditional high political approach with a broad examination of popular politics, this important study provides a fresh reading of the politics of Palmerston’s foreign policy and its bearing on the development of the Liberal party, as well as considering its relationship to Palmerston’s own political position.

David Brown is Lecturer in History at the University of Strathclyde.

Palmerston, the Political Nation and the Structure of Politics at Mid-Century * Palmerston and the Palace: the Struggle for Control of Foreign Policy, 1846-50 * Palmerston and the Politics of Foreign Policy, 1846-50 * No Eternal Allies: from Don Pacifico to December 1851 * Palmerston, the Derby Government and the Search for Office, February to December 1852 * Palmerston, the Aberdeen Government and the Politics of Foreign Policy, 1853: Hawks and Doves * Rivalry With Russell and Palmerston’s Ascendancy, December 1853 to February 1855 Palmerston, the Political Nation and the Structure of Politics at Mid-Century * Palmerston and the Palace: the Struggle for Control of Foreign Policy, 1846-50 * Palmerston and the Politics of Foreign Policy, 1846-50 * No Eternal Allies: from Don Pacifico to December 1851 * Palmerston, the Derby Government and the Search for Office, February to December 1852 * Palmerston, the Aberdeen Government and the Politics of Foreign Policy, 1853: Hawks and Doves * Rivalry With Russell and Palmerston’s Ascendancy, December 1853 to February 1855