Beethoven as I Knew Him; A Biography - Anton Felix Schindler - Paperback Book

So strange a man--both likeable and unlikeable. Best known not as prime minister but as the husband of Caroline Lamb who had a notorious affair with Lord Byron, he was both likeable and unlikeable in his refusal to take a stand. Likeable in his refusal to divorce her or to abandon her. Unlikeable in his indifference to a woman who longed for passion. Likeable in standing by her to the end and visiting her when she was dying.

“If the unacceptable face of scepticism is a crippling cynicism, then that of tolerance is indifference.” So Ziegler writes and it is certainly true of Melbourne who was indifferent to starvation and poverty and was incapable of believing that the famine was really happening or that it could matter. He could take any position that was expedient--an extreme political pragmatist, I would say.

I hadn't realized how formative his relationship with Queen Victoria was though I knew about her relationship with Disraeli. He did well by her for the most part and, as Ziegler points out, others probably couldn't have done as well.

This is very much a political biography and I sometimes got lost since I'm not so steady footed when it comes to understanding British politics. Even his personal life is seen through this lens--Caroline, his sister, etc.