Palmerston and the Times: Foreign Policy, the Press and Public Opinion in Mid-Victorian Britain

Victorian Britain had two players of colossal influence on the world stage: Lord Palmerston - the dominant figure in foreign affairs in the mid-nineteenth century - and The Times - the first global newspaper, read avidly by statesmen around the world. Palmerston was also one of the first real media-manipulating politicians of the modern age, forging close links with a number of publications to create the so-called ""Palmerston press."" His relationship with The Times, however, was turbulent and became a prolonged and bitter rivalry. For The Times, Palmerston was no more than ""a flippant dandy;"" to Palmerston, The Times was a treacherous ""liar."" In this book, Laurence Fenton explores the highly-charged rivalry between these two titans of the mid-Victorian era, revealing the personal and political differences at the heart of an antagonism that stretched over the course of three decades.