Coningsby Or The New Generation Author:Benjamin Disraeli, Thom Braun (Editor) Coningsby has been called the first political novel in the English language. When it was published in 1844 it caused a sensation and confirmed the extraordinary and colourful talent of its author. Disraeli, then in his fortieth year, already had a formidable reputation for individuality and outspokenness. Together with Sybil (184... more »5) and Tancred (1847), this novel forms what has become known as the Young England trilogy, and Coningsby itself is regarded by many as being Disraeli's finest work of fiction.
Against the turbulent background of England at the time of the 1832 Reform Act and the succeeding years, Disraeli works his plot of intrigue and romance in a book which recognizes in the fate of the nation a subject as compelling as that of the fate of individuals. The author presents a vivid picture of aristocratic life which questions the very basis of Victorian society. In following the fortunes of Harry Coningsby, the orphaned grandson of the Marquis of Monmouth. It also traces the waning of the Whigs and the Tories and the nascency of the Conservative party. Above all, Coningsby is a tribute to a political group called "Young England," which hoped for an alliance of the nobility and the common people.« less