SOURCE: "Disraeli's Political Trilogy and the Antinomic Structure of Imperial Desire," Novel: A Forum on Fiction, Vol. 22, No. 3, Spring, 1989, pp. 305-25.

In the following essay, Bivona argues that Disraeli's political trilogy was written in order to reinvigorate the Tory party and, particularly, to give him "a forum in which to ally ideological argument with imperial fantasy" through his portrayal of the government's expansion to include the middle and working classes.

Recent history provides few examples of successful political careers founded on literary careers. When politicians turn to letters, they usually do so after leaving the political wars to beguile the hours of retirement by constructing overly-detailed, self-aggrandizing memoirs. Benjamin Disraeli's career is unique in this respect. The son of a collector of literary curiosities who was admired by Byron, Disraeli forced his way into "society" and thence into the House of Commons at least partly by cultivating a...