Professor of Modern History at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, Peter D. G. Thomas is the author of numerous studies in eighteenth-century politics.
`No scholar knows more about the issues and practices of British
politics in the era of the War of American Independence than
Thomas. He is ideally situated to provide the ideological context
within which Wilkes must be understood by later generations.
Providing that context is one of the major achievements of this
study.'
Reed Browning, Albion
`thorough and scholarly study of Wilkes's private life and public
career'
Sunday Times
`A fascinating and intriguing portrait of the man George III
referred to as "that devil".'
Books Magazine
`the first properly researched biography to have appeared since
1917 ... Professor Thomas is well-qualified to give Wilkes this
kind of scholarly going-over ... Peter Thomas comes out with a
flourish of support for the traditional view of Wilkes as a man of
principle: a rascal, yes, but a genuine radical too. Most readers
will, I fancy, be glad to see that final verdict.'
Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph
`Thomas is clear, well informed and judicious in his treatment of
the highlights of Wilkes's most famous public disputes with
successive administrations.'
Times Literary Supplement
`Peter Thomas has produced the first serious study of Wilkes for
some years.'
London Review of Books
`no scholar as well versed in the period as Peter Thomas has
previously offered an account of his life ... This biography of
Wilkes displays his characteristic virtues ... These
characteristics combine to make the narrative engaging and
refreshing, and in general a pleasure to read. He has chosen to
play to his established strengths, and this book makes the extent
as well as the limits of these fully apparent.'
Joanna Innes, Somerville College, Oxford, Labour History Review,
Vol. 61, No. 3, Winter 1996
`we gain deep insight into his character, ideas and conduct, and
the way these related to the social and political developments of
his time ... The narrative is flawless, the comment stimulating,
and Professor Thomas comes to a clear and fair decision about the
many controversial episodes in Wilkes's career. Many of the details
of this long and stormy career are already familiar, but Professor
Thomas relates and evaluates them with refreshing verve ...
this
enjoyable and informative book succeeds in rehabilitating Wilkes to
some extent, by drawing attention more to his merits than his
failings.'
Michael J. Turner, University of Reading, Parliamentary History
16/3
`As one would expect, the author's command of parliamentary sources
and the newspaper press is second to none, and the work has an
authoritative precision which many readers will appreciate ...
essentially a political biography. As such it succeeds very well
and will be recommended reading at more than one level.'
G.M. Ditchfield, University of Kent at Canterbury, BJECS 20.2
(1997)
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