The Pimlico Companion To Parliament: A Literary Anthology

The Pimlico Companion To Parliament: A Literary Anthology

by Christopher Silvester (Editor)

Synopsis

George Canning describes his maiden speech in 1974, Benjamin Disraeli the vote that brought down Sir Robert Peel's administration in 1845. William Jerdan witnesses the assassination of a prime minister, Spencer Percival, in 1812, whilst diaries such as Charles Greville, Harold Nicolson and 'Chips' Channon record their time as MPs. The old refreshment parlour, Bellamy's Kitchen, is described by Charles Dickens, and other visitors include Thomas Carlyle, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Virginia Woolf and George Orwell. Here also, are writings by leser-known individuals, containing witty, dramatic or moving reflections on an institution whose wealth of history and tradition ia as absorbing as it is unique.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 656
Edition: New edition
Publisher: Pimlico
Published: 02 Oct 1997

ISBN 10: 0712666435
ISBN 13: 9780712666435

Media Reviews
'Christopher Silvester has produced a quite scintillating anthology..The book is a true labour of love and no praise can be too high for its editor', David Robson, Sunday Telegraph .'In the immortal words of Chris Patten, I have been gob-smacked by the quality of this book...I can't think of a better book to give to anyone remotely interested in Parliament', David Mellor, Evening Standard .'Assembled with style, scholarship and discrimination...a splendid and highly readable anthology', Roy Jenkins, The Times .'The publishing industry had up to now inexplicably failed to produce a book like Christopher Silvester's...The unexpected lurks in his erudite preface and 600 resonant pages. He mingles the grave with the gay', David McKie, Guardian .'Wonderful...Nobody who is, was, or ever hopes to be an MP should miss this anthology. Nobody who wants to understand the character of our Commons rather than its structure, nobody who wants to know what it feels like to be an MP, and nobody who has ever been touched by the curious alchemy of the place, can fail to be drawn by Silvester's collection', Matthew Parris, Sunday Times