The Young Duke
1831
Benjamin Disraeli wrote this novel at twenty-six, years before he would become Prime Minister of England. The Young Duke follows George Augustus Frederick as he inherits a vast fortune and enters adult society, only to discover that his wealth makes him a prize to be claimed rather than a person to be known. His guardian, the Catholic Mr. Dacre, draws the resentment of relatives who see themselves as more deserving of controlling the boy's future. Chief among them, the scheming Earl of Fitz-pompey waits for his moment to manipulate the young duke's affairs. What emerges is a sharp portrait of aristocratic English society, where romantic entanglements and family conspiracies intertwine. Disraeli himself came to despise the novel, viewing it as an embarrassment that haunted his later political career. Yet this same youthful exuberance gives the book its energy: a glittering, sometimes satirical look at privilege, responsibility, and the difficult education of a man born to power. For readers curious about the origins of one of Britain's most famous statesmen, or anyone interested in the manners and machinations of the early Victorian elite.
