The outline of Palmerston's extraordinary career is well-known: his near forty years in Cabinet office, his lead in bringing the Crimean War to an end, his attempt to bluff Bismarck over Schleswig-Holstein. Also known is his swashbuckling, womanising reputation. But not explored until now are the powerful intellect, perception and subtle diplomacy that lay behind Palmerston's high-handed, blustering style, and which made him one of the most internationally influential statesman in British history. James Chambers pays particular attention to the politician's early years, showing how his 'scandalous' private life and his long, frustrating apprenticeship at the War Office played their parts in turning the diffident 'Lord Cupid' into the notoriously over-confident 'Lord Pumicestone'. Instinctive and headstrong, he horrified his Cabinet colleagues with his brinkmanship. The apparent champion of the underdog and a pioneer in the exploitation of public opinion, 'the people's darling' became England's most popular and powerful politician since the elder Pitt. Even at the end of his career, Palmerston retained the nonchalance that had epitomised the bucks and dandies of his Regency youth.His levity irritated the redoubtable Queen Victoria, but a more astute observer, Florence Nightingale, saw through it. 'He was,' she said, 'so much more in earnest than he appeared.'

'Wonderfully readable biography' -- Scotsman 20040529 'Wonderfully fresh and fluent biography ... Chambers's is, in the best sense, a sensibly revisionist life ... a magnificently informative and entertaining book.' -- Nigel Jones, Literary Review 20040501 'Its ... human interest material is fascinating, not least in its account of Queen Victoria and her consort's detestation of Palmerston' -- Western Daily Press 20040515 'Excellent ... Chambers is equal to the monumental aura surrounding this popular British Prime Minister' -- Oxford Times 20040903 'Accessible [and] entertaining ... James Chambers's Palmerston is to be welcomed for bringing its subject's colourful character, and the Victorian political life in which it operated, to life.' -- Times Literary Supplement 20040827 'An intelligent, attractively-written work bringing to a broad readership one of the most audicious of all mid-Victorian lives' -- Tristram Hunt, BBC History Books of the Year 20040827 'A rollicking biography, weaving raunch with realpolitik, told with the bold swagger of Palmerston himself.' -- Daily Telegraph 20040605 'An excellent introduction to the great man' -- Independent on Sunday 20040530 'James Chambers exhibits a keen eye for the social as well as the political nuances of the day ... He takes a scholarly and properly sceptical approach to the multifarious sources ... best of all, he adopts an elegant, ironic literary style perfectly suited to its subject ... the author has the knack of making complex diplomatic issues easily comprehensible ... [he] superbly captures both the subtlety behind the bluster of this most magnificent of 19th-century prime ministers and what he calls his "infuriating but convincing air of jovial confidence"' -- Andrew Roberts, Sunday Telegraph 20040509 'Engaging biography ... Chambers captures the puckish personality of the man and his aristocratic, irreverent, often louche milieu' -- Sunday Times 20040509 'Eminently readable' -- The Field 20040509 'A long overdue biography written with great elan.' -- Daily Echo 20050121 'Not fully explored until this new biography were the powerful intellect, perception, and subtle diplomacy that lay behind Palmerston's high-handed blustering style.' -- Sunday Telegraph 20050121 'Chambers [writes] with great clarity, he is vivid without being lurid, and this is a superb book' -- Sunday Times 20050130 'The author does a good job of convincing us that behind the bluster and irreverence Palmerston was a shrewd and earnest leader.' -- Daily Echo 20050121

James Chambers was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. His many books include The Norman Kings, The English House, The Devil's Horseman -- a history of the Mongol invasion of Europe -- and the Daily Telegraph's highly successful History of the British Empire. He has also written and presented television programmes on social, military and architectural history.