At the height of his career he identified himself to a passing stranger as "Burke of Beaconsfield," and at the end of his life, he chose to be buried in the small church of St. Mary's All Saints Beaconsfield rather than in Westminster Abbey. In many and complex ways Beaconsfield is an essential key to the Edmund Burke who defined himself as the embodiment of Cicero's "new man" and whose marital relationship with Jane Nugent Burke sustained, nurtured, and drove him throughout his political career.".

This volume explores the years from 1784 to 1797, and covers the most interesting years of Burke's life; the leading themes being India and the French Revolution. Burke was a key figure in shaping long-term British attitudes to both.