William Wilberforce
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'The author has produced a splendid read for which he deserves the utmost credit. He tells Wilberforce's story with such enthusiasm and narrative skill that, in this bicentennial year, his book seems assured of bestsellerdom. I put it down liking Hague as much as I was moved by his tale, one of the most remarkable in British political history.' Sunday Times
'Gripping…absorbing…the definitive biography.' Daily Mail
'In William Hague, Wilberforce has found a sympathetic, judicious biographer…Hague has written the best modern study of this remarkable man.' Mail on Sunday
'Informed by a nuanced sense of what was and was not politically possible at that moment…lucid and convincing…gripping.' Daily Telegraph
‘William Hague has assumed from Roy Jenkins the mantle of Britain's foremost politician-biographer. This magnificent biography of William Wilberforce succeeds his good debut life of William Pitt…his achievement goes far beyond an attractive prose style and meticulously accurate historical re-recreation. The insights drawn from a wide parliamentary and political experience bring to life the genius of the great anti-slave trade campaigner in a wholly new and vivid way.’ Evening Standard
Daily Telegraph
'...lucid and convincing...gripping.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
66 of 68 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"A beacon of light which the passing of two centuries has scarcely dimmed". This is Hague's concluding assessment of Wilberforce. This fine biography should keep that light blazing. I think it will probably be the definitive biography of the great abolitionist for quite some time to come. Hague writes well and keeps one's attention throughout a long book. He is masterful at setting the historical scene. No doubt his previous biography of Wilberforce's friend Pitt was a great help in researching the period. One is given a real feel for a very different world where only men of means could afford to enter politics for getting elected, except to a rotten borough, could mean huge expense. It was a time when party allegiance was not so well developed and Wilberforce maintained his independence as a member of parliament for Yorkshire. He was a friend of Pitt but opposed him over the war with France as he opposed a later government over Queen Caroline. Hague does not fall into the trap of judging an historic figure by more modern criteria. Contemporary critics of Wilberforce disliked his social conservatism. His radicalism was aimed at stopping an evil trade not promoting cause of the poor close to home.Hague explains it. Wilberforce would give no support to those who would be socially disruptive and those applauding the French Revolution. His detestation of what had happened in France, Hague rightly identifies as Wilberforce's opposition to all things against religion.
One expects Hague to be good on the politics of Wilberforce's life but I was pleasantly surprised by his understanding of his subject's Evangelical faith. Christian faith we know transformed Wilberforce from a pleasure seeking young man into an ardent reformer. It was the motivation in all his subsequent life. As well as abolition it also moved him to seek the opening of India to Christian missions. Hague seems to have a sympathetic understanding of Wilberforce's Christianity as well as a great appreciation of his political achievements. here was an MP who was most diligent in his duties though he never held an office of state. There is also admiration for the personal character of his subject. He was a man who made friends, was hugely charitable and a loving husband and father. Here was a notable orator and a man of wit, welcome at the tables of the great and the good. His character was indeed that of a joyful Christian as Piper writes in his short biography. He died impoverished by his own personal charity and the foolishness of his eldest son. He declined ennoblement and wanted a quiet burial place but was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey for his contemporaries judged him to be great as well as good.
One expects Hague to be good on the politics of Wilberforce's life but I was pleasantly surprised by his understanding of his subject's Evangelical faith. Christian faith we know transformed Wilberforce from a pleasure seeking young man into an ardent reformer. It was the motivation in all his subsequent life. As well as abolition it also moved him to seek the opening of India to Christian missions. Hague seems to have a sympathetic understanding of Wilberforce's Christianity as well as a great appreciation of his political achievements. here was an MP who was most diligent in his duties though he never held an office of state. There is also admiration for the personal character of his subject. He was a man who made friends, was hugely charitable and a loving husband and father. Here was a notable orator and a man of wit, welcome at the tables of the great and the good. His character was indeed that of a joyful Christian as Piper writes in his short biography. He died impoverished by his own personal charity and the foolishness of his eldest son. He declined ennoblement and wanted a quiet burial place but was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey for his contemporaries judged him to be great as well as good.
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
William Hague follows up his debut biography of Pitt the Younger with Pitt's best friend and tireless slave-trade campaigner. It is the perfect sophomore effort. Similar era; one of the closest friendships in politics, yet, some great differences between the two great men. Pitt, the son of the great Chatham; by no means wealthy; eager for ministerial power. Wilberforce: from a very wealthy mercantile background; advocating the abolition of the slave-trade as an `Independent' constituent for Yorkshire.
I too disagree with a previous reviewer who seems to criticise Hague's book on his own personal dislike of Wilberforce, not on the merits of the book itself. I have to say that Hague paints a very fair and unbiased account of Wilberforce. Wilberforce considered himself an `Independent', not a Tory. He could be rightly called one of `Pitt's friends' but famously turned against Pitt in opposition to the Revolutionary War; he managed to remain on friendly terms with Fox and Grenville as a matter of fact. Hague does point to certain faults: his licentious youth, his frequent inability to commit to one side of an argument; his complete naivety on military affairs. The biography as a whole however is favourable to what emerges as a brilliant man; Hague quite rightly makes great use of contemporary descriptions of Wilberforce and offers a succinct argument for his policies.
For anyone who believes politics are boring, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Hague's description of the various machinations building up to the 1807 act is about as dramatic and exiting as it gets. Those were certainly exiting times in politics: two Revolution and two subsequent wars; Irish Union; reform; the trial of Warren Hastings; Catholic emancipation; the slave-trade etc.. Some of the greatest orators of all time graced the Commons' floor: Pitt, Burke, Fox, Sheridan and of course Wilberforce. Later Canning and Castlereagh would be added to that long list of luminaries. It puts our own politics to shame if truth be told.
Hague occasionally juxtaposes his own modern political world with the politics of that era yet never goes overboard while doing it. He instead draws out the eccentricities and bustle of the 18thc election; the lack of a party machine; the greater reliance on debate etc.. It frequently is reminiscent of an early satirical scene in A Pickwick Papers.
Christian Evangelicalism of course was hugely important to Wilberforce. In fairness he never imposed his Christianity though he sometimes despaired of Pitt's relevant lack of religion. Instead he offered guidance to any of his friends so inclined. It's significant that once he went through his dramatic conversion he still remained something of a social animal (despite his best efforts). Wilberforce has an amazing knack of remaining friends with rivals; contemporaries describe him as humorous, amiable and the soul of the party. He saw his own religion as enlightened, benevolent and uplifting; in stark contrast to Methodism which influenced him. Wilberforce never withdrew from life, his own Christianity reinvigorated it.
Hague's book is wonderfully presented with numerous plates; particularly brilliant are the many (nothing less than scathing will do) Gillray sketches. His research and use of sources is impeccable; his prose informative and accessible. All in all, Hague is turning into the new-Roy Jenkins. I like the fact that he seems to specialise in a era; an era I am very interested in as it happens. How about a Charles James Fox book William?
I too disagree with a previous reviewer who seems to criticise Hague's book on his own personal dislike of Wilberforce, not on the merits of the book itself. I have to say that Hague paints a very fair and unbiased account of Wilberforce. Wilberforce considered himself an `Independent', not a Tory. He could be rightly called one of `Pitt's friends' but famously turned against Pitt in opposition to the Revolutionary War; he managed to remain on friendly terms with Fox and Grenville as a matter of fact. Hague does point to certain faults: his licentious youth, his frequent inability to commit to one side of an argument; his complete naivety on military affairs. The biography as a whole however is favourable to what emerges as a brilliant man; Hague quite rightly makes great use of contemporary descriptions of Wilberforce and offers a succinct argument for his policies.
For anyone who believes politics are boring, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Hague's description of the various machinations building up to the 1807 act is about as dramatic and exiting as it gets. Those were certainly exiting times in politics: two Revolution and two subsequent wars; Irish Union; reform; the trial of Warren Hastings; Catholic emancipation; the slave-trade etc.. Some of the greatest orators of all time graced the Commons' floor: Pitt, Burke, Fox, Sheridan and of course Wilberforce. Later Canning and Castlereagh would be added to that long list of luminaries. It puts our own politics to shame if truth be told.
Hague occasionally juxtaposes his own modern political world with the politics of that era yet never goes overboard while doing it. He instead draws out the eccentricities and bustle of the 18thc election; the lack of a party machine; the greater reliance on debate etc.. It frequently is reminiscent of an early satirical scene in A Pickwick Papers.
Christian Evangelicalism of course was hugely important to Wilberforce. In fairness he never imposed his Christianity though he sometimes despaired of Pitt's relevant lack of religion. Instead he offered guidance to any of his friends so inclined. It's significant that once he went through his dramatic conversion he still remained something of a social animal (despite his best efforts). Wilberforce has an amazing knack of remaining friends with rivals; contemporaries describe him as humorous, amiable and the soul of the party. He saw his own religion as enlightened, benevolent and uplifting; in stark contrast to Methodism which influenced him. Wilberforce never withdrew from life, his own Christianity reinvigorated it.
Hague's book is wonderfully presented with numerous plates; particularly brilliant are the many (nothing less than scathing will do) Gillray sketches. His research and use of sources is impeccable; his prose informative and accessible. All in all, Hague is turning into the new-Roy Jenkins. I like the fact that he seems to specialise in a era; an era I am very interested in as it happens. How about a Charles James Fox book William?
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Relased to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807, this detailed and engaging biography really makes clear the moral conviction, determination and no small degree of political skill that enabled Wilberforce (1759 - 1833) to lead the campaign against first the slave trade, and then slavery itself, for so many years. In so doing, it provides well-reasoned answers to questions like: Why did Wilberforce first campaign against the slave trade, and not slavery itself? Was abolition inevitable for purely economic factors? How strong was his influence in advancing the cause of abolition outside of the British Empire?
This book also shows how the aforementioned qualities combined to make Wilberforce perhaps the last and greatest truly independent British politician, from his election to the House of Commons in 1780 to his retirement in 1826. A close friend of William Pitt (the younger) from a young age, and often instinctively socially conservative, Wilberforce nevertheless was not afraid to oppose Pitt and his Tory government on issues as serious as war with France. When there was a constitutional crisis over the divorce of Prince George (the future George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick, Wilberforce's political independence made him the ideal mediator in many people's eyes at the time.
Hague makes no attempt to play down the importance of a profound (Evangelical) Christian faith to Wilberforce's work. After a time spent with a Methodist aunt and uncle as a teenager, and conversations with Isaac Milner later, Wilberforce gave his life to Christ in 1785. Pitt was surprised, but convinced his friend that his Christian convictions would be best served by continuing in public life. After meeting leading abolitisionists in 1787, and encouraged by John Newton and John Wesley, Wilberforce took up the leadership of the parliamentary campaign for abolition. His Christian faith also led him to support a myriad of charities and to campaign for the opening up of India to missionaries.
Overall, this is a sympathetic but not sycophantic account of a truly remarkable life from a very able author who on the one hand obviously admires his subject's politcal abilities, and on the other understands his Yorkshire roots. If Hague is nevertheless occasionally bemused by Wilberforce's Evangelical Christianity, that is to his loss, but not the reader's. Recommended.
This book also shows how the aforementioned qualities combined to make Wilberforce perhaps the last and greatest truly independent British politician, from his election to the House of Commons in 1780 to his retirement in 1826. A close friend of William Pitt (the younger) from a young age, and often instinctively socially conservative, Wilberforce nevertheless was not afraid to oppose Pitt and his Tory government on issues as serious as war with France. When there was a constitutional crisis over the divorce of Prince George (the future George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick, Wilberforce's political independence made him the ideal mediator in many people's eyes at the time.
Hague makes no attempt to play down the importance of a profound (Evangelical) Christian faith to Wilberforce's work. After a time spent with a Methodist aunt and uncle as a teenager, and conversations with Isaac Milner later, Wilberforce gave his life to Christ in 1785. Pitt was surprised, but convinced his friend that his Christian convictions would be best served by continuing in public life. After meeting leading abolitisionists in 1787, and encouraged by John Newton and John Wesley, Wilberforce took up the leadership of the parliamentary campaign for abolition. His Christian faith also led him to support a myriad of charities and to campaign for the opening up of India to missionaries.
Overall, this is a sympathetic but not sycophantic account of a truly remarkable life from a very able author who on the one hand obviously admires his subject's politcal abilities, and on the other understands his Yorkshire roots. If Hague is nevertheless occasionally bemused by Wilberforce's Evangelical Christianity, that is to his loss, but not the reader's. Recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant biography - brings Wilberforce to life
The author's rather stuffy political image is quickly obscured as one begins this brilliant biography. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Chris J. Newman
Excellent
Maybe Wiliam Hague should stick to writing. This is an extremely well written biography. So often historical biographies are too detailed to read comfortably, and one can get... Read more
Published 8 months ago by H. J. Beattie
Absorbing read !
This is an amazing read - a real insight into the man - and his politics, he achieved more by his manner and unique way of dealing with hugh issues. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mal
Wm Wilberforce by Wm Hague
I have seen the film and I am now enjoying the book which goes into so much more detail and history. This is the second book by Hague I have read and he is an excellent historian
Published 13 months ago by Mrs. E. M. Ball
the definitive Wilberforce biography
William Hague, once leader of the Conservative Party and now Foreign Secretary, has provided us with a wonderful biography of this great Englishman. Read more
Published 23 months ago by R. Bailey
First class historical biography
I wonder how William Hague found the time to research and write such a thorough and thoughtful historical biography? Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2009 by Pilgrim
what a guy
i bought this book wanting to elarn more about the slave trade
Mr winberforce was a great man and this book does cover the abolition but not in as much depth as i thought... Read more
Mr winberforce was a great man and this book does cover the abolition but not in as much depth as i thought... Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2009 by Mr. J. Williamson
William Wilberforce
One of the best books I've read for ages. Really excellent account of a very interesting man surrounded by interesting people at a time when alot was going on. Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2009 by J. Annandale
An honourable MP
A well written and balanced account of a man who did his best in accordance with his beliefs - an honourable man - who, despite his poor eye sight pursued his purpose courageously. Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2009 by Pachebal
Wonderful biography of a great, great man
Some time ago I heard William Hague lecture on Wilberforce. It was a pleasure to hear such a fine speaker so on top of his subject. Read more
Published on 22 Sep 2008 by Mr Swallow
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