Review
'With this well-researched, well-written and sometimes deeply passionate book, Bill Cash has singlehandedly saved one of Britain's greatest statesmen from an ill-deserved obscurity. Often using Bright's own fiery language, he has turned the once-forbidding Victorian granite statue back into a flesh-and-blood fighter for justice and human decency. John Bright was a key figure perhaps even the key figure in the struggle for democracy in Britain, yet his legacy was largely forgotten until this first-class, encapsulating biography.' --Andrew Roberts, author of Salisbury - Victorian Titan
'John Bright is a major biography about one of the towering politicians of the Victorian era. Bill Cash not only breathes new life into Bright but delivers an entirely fresh view of both the man himself and his stance as the professional scourge of the upper classes. Bright was always his country's greatest critic, and yet also its greatest parliamentarian. This and all the other contradictions that made up Bright's character receive their full due in Cash's nuanced portrait.' --Amanda Foreman, author of A World on Fire and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire
'From the campaign for popular democracy to the fate of empire, the American Civil War to the roots of globalisation, John Bright was one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century. Bill Cash's biography restores Bright not only to his rightful place at the heart of Victorian England but also as one of the creators of the modern age.' --Graham Stewart, author of Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Party
'Historians will enjoy this fine political portrait.' --The Economist
'From the campaign for popular democracy to the fate of empire, the American Civil War to the roots of globalisation, John Bright was one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century. Bill Cash's biography restores Bright not only to his rightful place at the heart of Victorian England but also as one of the creators of the modern age.' --Graham Stewart, author of Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Party
...thoughtful and perceptive...[Bright] would surely have appreciated Cash s intellectually subtle and deftly written work. At last, his extraordinary life has the biography it deserves. --George Eaton, The New Statesman
'From the campaign for popular democracy to the fate of empire, the American Civil War to the roots of globalisation, John Bright was one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century. Bill Cash's biography restores Bright not only to his rightful place at the heart of Victorian England but also as one of the creators of the modern age.' --Graham Stewart, author of Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Party
Bright a radical rooted in traditional social values has found a fitting biographer. --The Times
'From the campaign for popular democracy to the fate of empire, the American Civil War to the roots of globalisation, John Bright was one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century. Bill Cash's biography restores Bright not only to his rightful place at the heart of Victorian England but also as one of the creators of the modern age.' --Graham Stewart, author of Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Party
'Cash s study is not only a useful addition to Bright s historiography but also a timely contribution to the current debate about the conduct and principles of elected politicians.' --History Today
'From the campaign for popular democracy to the fate of empire, the American Civil War to the roots of globalisation, John Bright was one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century. Bill Cash's biography restores Bright not only to his rightful place at the heart of Victorian England but also as one of the creators of the modern age.' --Graham Stewart, author of Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Party
About the Author
Bill Cash is the Member of Parliament for Stone. He was educated at Stonyhurst College and Lincoln College, Oxford, where he read History, and has since practised law as a solicitor. He has been in Parliament for 27 years and was Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. He is Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee of the House of Commons. The Spectator named him Parliamentary Campaigner of the Year in 1991. As well as being the author of several books on European affairs, Bill Cash writes regularly for national newspapers, including The Times and the Daily Telegraph and has made frequent appearances on radio and television. John Bright was his great-grandfather's cousin.
