Sir Robert Peel dominated political life for more than two decades and has been described as the 'founder of modern conservatism.' This book analyzes the career of Sir Robert Peel in relation to the development of the Conservative Party in the early 19th century. It discusses Peel's conception of Conservatism, and his work as Prime Minister.

"Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788? 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and also from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846. While Home Secretary, Peel helped create the modern concept of the police force, leading to officers being known as "Bobbies" (in England) and "Peelers" (in Northern Ireland). As Prime Minister Peel issued the Tamworth Manifesto (1834) during his brief first period in office, leading to the formation of the Conservative Party out of the shattered Tory Party; in his second administration he repealed the Corn Laws."--Wikipedia.

First published in 1964, Peel and the Conservative Party is a major historical study that considers the problems of Peel who in 1932 was to recreate a party which had been shattered successively by Canning, Catholic Emancipation, and the Reform Bill, and, to lead a party whose interests were hopelessly divided between agriculture and industry. The author acknowledges the work of Professors Aspinall and Gash on the subject, and among other things considers the true significance of the resignation of the Duke of Wellington in 1830. This book will be an interesting read for students of history and political science.

Drawing on the conclusions of recent research, this book takes a more critical view of Peel's political career than is conventionally offered. It argues that, although Peel was an efficient administrator and a dominant political leader in the 1830s and 1840s, he lacked both intellectual flexibility and political sensitivity. His arrogance and inflexibility rather than the inadequacies of his backbenchers, were largely responsible for the break-up of the Conservative party in 1846 and for its generation in the political wilderness thereafter. Completing the trilogy of Great Victorian Prime Ministers in the Lancaster Pamphlet series, Professor Evans's reassessment of Peel's career sheds light both on a major political figure and, more widely, on party politics in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Sir Robert Peel provides an accessible and concise introduction to the life and career of one of the most political leaders of the nineteenth century. Perhaps best known for seeing through the Repeal of the Corn Laws, Peel had an enormous impact on political life of his age and beyond. Eric J. Evans reassesses Peel's career, arguing that although Peel's executive and administrative strengths were great, his arrogance, lack of empathy with the development of political parties and his inflexible commitment to economic liberalism presented political problems which he was incapable of solving. This expanded and fully revised second edition: fully engages with the extensive new historical work on Sir Robert Peel published since the first edition appeared fifteen years ago includes a glossary of key terms plus an updated and expanded bibliography, including listing useful websites. Sir Robert Peel is the perfect introduction for all students of nineteenth-century history.