Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield, K.g.cartoons from "Punch" 1843-1878

For thirty-five years, Britain's most vicious and brilliant satirists turned their attention to one man: Benjamin Disraeli. This volume gathers every Punch cartoon depicting the man who would twice become Prime Minister, from his first awkward entries into Parliament as a dandyish outsider to his triumphant dominance of Victorian politics. The cartoons chronicle his battles with Gladstone, his flirtations with the Crown, his championing of the working class, and his enemies' relentless attacks on his Jewish heritage and suspected doublespeak. These are not mere historical curiosities. They are windows into how Victorians saw power, race, ambition, and the boundaries of acceptable politics. The artists of Punch wielded caricature like a weapon, and this collection shows exactly how they wielded it against one of Britain's most divisive figures. For historians of visual culture, for anyone fascinated by the machinery of political reputation, and for readers who wonder how the powerful were kept honest before television, this volume offers an answer: with ink, wit, and devastating precision.