William Gladstone

General elections in Britain were once weeks-long affairs of corruption and chaos. The shift to one-day polling was slow.

The unexpected fall of Gladstone's government in June 1885 was a cause of acute embarrassment to the parliamentary Opposition, whose victory caught them unprepared.

Maurice Shock explains how Gladstone, a deeply moralistic and liberal statesman, came to embark along the path of intervention, conquest and occupation.

Gladstone and his Victorian Liberals still offer a great insight into the UK's divisions.

Though they are often seen as polar opposites,the architect of modern Germany and the great British Liberal statesman shared more in common than one might think. Roland Quinault draws comparisons.

Charles Chenevix Trench finds that, as Governor of Equatoria and then Governor-General of the Sudan from 1874-1880, one of C. G. Gordon’s chief concerns was suppressing the slave-trade.

Four times Prime Minister, Gladstone owes his great reputation, A.F. Thompson argues, less to his achievements in office than to his character and personality.

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, accounts for the last hours in active British politics for the 'Grand Old Man'.

The memories of Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, of the political crisis that Gladstone's final resignation caused at the heart of the British government in 1894.

Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female Prime Minister on May 4th, 1979. Some other firsts claimed by those occupying the country's highest office.