The Prime Ministers Son

This biography presents an intimate picture of Stephen Gladstone, the previously ignored son of Prime Minister William Gladstone, whose life was tormented by the expectations and interference of his father, his mother Catherine and his sister Mary. It sets his fascinating character, caught between duty and self-doubt, firmly in its historical context, tracing his progress through the horrors of a 19th-century prep school, his 32 years as the reluctant and restless Rector of Hawarden, his mysteriously acquired final incumbency and the desolating personal effects of the First World War.

A landmark history of the men and women who have defined the UK's role in the modern world - and what makes them special - by a seasoned political journalist.

This newly researched biography presents an intimate picture of Stephen Gladstone, the previously ignored son of Prime Minister William Gladstone, whose life was tormented by the expectations and interference of his father, his mother Catherine and his sister Mary. This wide-ranging book sets his fascinating character, caught between duty and self-doubt,firmly in its historical context, tracing his progress through the horrors of a nineteenth-century prep school, his thirty-two years as the reluctant and restless Rector of Hawarden, his mysteriously acquired final incumbency and the desolating personal effects of the First World War.