Eminent Victorians is a book by Lytton Strachey (the oldest member of the Bloomsbury Group), first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the Victorian era. Its fame rests on the irreverence and wit Strachey brought to bear on three men and a woman who had till then been regarded as heroes and heroine. They were:
The book made Strachey's name and placed him firmly in the top rank of biographers, where he rema...
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Eminent Victorians is a book by Lytton Strachey (the oldest member of the Bloomsbury Group), first published in 1918 and consisting of biographies of four leading figures from the Victorian era. Its fame rests on the irreverence and wit Strachey brought to bear on three men and a woman who had till then been regarded as heroes and heroine. They were:
The book made Strachey's name and placed him firmly in the top rank of biographers, where he remains.
Each of the lives are very different, although there are common threads - for example the recurrent appearance of William Gladstone. Each story is set against a specific background.
In Cardinal Manning's story, the background is the creation of the Oxford Movement and the defection of an influential group of Church of England clergy to the Catholic Church. This aspect is covered quite deeply to explain the whole movement and its main protagonists very clearly. This is a very political story, full of intrigue and manipulation around St...
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