Benjamin Disraeli

Benjamin Disraeli was born in 1804 into a Jewish family and was baptised at the age of twelve on his father's decision, which alone made a parliamentary career possible at the time. At twenty he ruined himself by speculating on South American mines and dragged his debts behind him for decades. He failed four times at elections before entering the Commons in 1837, where his first speech was jeered. He became prime minister twice and wrote novels all his life. He died in 1881.

In the catalogue 1

• NovelSybil; or, The Two NationsBenjamin Disraeli · 1845LiteraturePublic domain