The Letters of Richard Cobden (1804-1865) provides, in four printed
volumes, the first critical edition of Cobden's letters, publishing
the complete text in as near the original form as possible. The
letters are accompanied by full scholarly apparatus, together with
an introduction to each volume which re-assesses Cobden's
importance in their light. Together, these volumes make available a
unique source of the understanding of British liberalism in its
European and international contexts, throwing new light on issues
such as the repeal of the Corn Laws, British radical movements, the
Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, Anglo-French relations, and the
American Civil War. The fourth and final volume, drawing on some
forty-six archives worldwide, is dominated by Cobden's search for a
permanent political legacy at home and abroad, following the severe
check to his health in the autumn of 1859. In January 1860, he
succeeded in negotiating the Anglo-French Commercial Treaty, a
landmark in Anglo-French relations designed to bind the two nations
closer together, and to provide the basis for a Europe united by
free trade. Yet the Treaty's benefits were threatened by a
continuing naval arms race between Britain and France, fuelled by
what Cobden saw as self-interested scare mongering in his tract The
Three Panics (1862). By 1862 an even bigger danger was the
possibility that British industry's need for cotton might
precipitate intervention in the American Civil War. Much of
Cobden's correspondence now centred on the necessity of
non-intervention and a campaign for the reform of international
maritime law, while he played a major part in attempts to alleviate
the effects of the 'Cotton Famine' in Lancashire. In addition to
Anglo-American relations, Cobden, the 'International Man',
continued to monitor the exercise of British power around the
globe. He was convinced that the 'gunboat' diplomacy of his prime
antagonist, Lord Palmerston, was ultimately harmful to Britain,
whose welfare demanded limited military expenditure and the
dismantling of the British 'colonial system'. Known for a long time
as the 'prophet in the wilderness', in 1864 Cobden welcomed
Palmerston's inability to intervene in the Schleswig-Holstein
crisis as a key turning-point in Britain's foreign policy, which,
together with the imminent end of the American Civil War, opened up
the prospect of a new reform movement at home. Disappointed with
the growing apathy of the entrepreneurs he had once mobilised in
the Anti-Corn Law League, Cobden now promoted the enfranchisement
of the working classes as necessary and desirable in order to
achieve the reform of the aristocratic state for which he had
campaigned since the 1830s.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
