Edmund Burke, Volume I 1730-1784 [Paperback]

Edmund Burke (1730-1797) was one of the most profound, versatile, and accomplished thinkers of the eighteenth century. Born and educated in Dublin, he moved to London to study law, but remained to make a career in English politics, completingA Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of OurIdeas of the Sublime and Beautiful(1757) before entering the political arena. A Member of Parliament for nearly thirty years, his speeches are still read and studied as classics of political thought, and through his best-known work,Reflections on the Revolution in France(1790) he has continued to exercise a posthumous influence as the father of conservatism.

In this, the first of two volumes, F.P. Lock covers the years between 1730-1784, and describes Burke's Irish upbringing and education, early writing, and his parliamentary career throughout the momentous years of the American War of Independence. Lavishly illustrated, the book provides an authoritative account of the complexity and breadth of Burke's philosophical and political writing and examines its origins in his personal experiences and the political world of his day.

1. Growing Up Irish, 1730-1744
2. From a Boy to a Man, 1744-1750
3. Getting Started, 1750-1757
4. APhilosophical Enquiry, 1757
5. Maps of Mankind, 1756-1765
6. Journalist and Jackal, 1758-1765
7. Gleams of Prosperity, 1765-1768
8. Present Discontents, 1768-1770
9. Squalls and Stagnation, 1770-1773
10. America and Bristol, 1774-1776
11. Waiting on Events, 1776-1779
12. Shears or Hatchets, 1779-1781
13. Paradise Lost, 1781-1784

Professor Lock gives us the first volume of what promises to be an important biography. --Derek Jarrett,LRB

Meticulous and massive biography...Helped by the bedrock of collected scholarly editions of Burke's letters, writings and speeches, he can raise this splendid monument. Refreshingly free of jargon and interpretative whil3D