The diaries of the fourth duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne (1785‒1851) provide an unrivalled insight into political events during the late-1830s and 1840s, from the perspective of a prominent Tory critic.

• At a time of Conservative revival under Sir Robert Peel, Newcastle used his position in the house of lords, his family’s historic electoral influence, and personal contacts with politicians and writers, to defend the status quo
• Newcastle’s diaries provide invaluable detail on these activities, offering important testimony on the Conservative party’s disruption in 1845‒6 and subsequent attempts to rebuild the party following the Repeal of the Corn Laws
• They also illustrate Newcastle’s uncompromising views on personalities and events, and his hopes and fears for the country in its domestic and foreign policy
• This edition reproduces the political content of the diaries for the period 1839‒50, as well as Newcastle’s published letters to the press, and is supplemented by a biographical appendix, an itinerary of Newcastle’s movements, and a comprehensive index
• Taken together, the volume demonstrates why Newcastle was described by Punch magazine in 1845 as ‘The Last of the Tories’

Richard A. Gaunt is Associate Professor in History at the University of Nottingham. He has been the joint editor of Parliamentary History since 2013.