Piers Brendon
The Man Who Wouldn’t Shut Up
Macaulay: Britain’s Liberal Imperialist
By Zareer Masani
The Bodley Head 272pp £20
A child prodigy and a man of genius, Thomas Babington Macaulay was, after Gibbon, our greatest historian. The son of Zachary Macaulay, anti-slavery crusader and pillar of the Evangelical Clapham Sect, he was born in 1800 and within three years was, dressed in his nankeen frock, expounding to the parlourmaid from a book almost as big as himself. Aged six, Tom preached from a chair to an assembly of servants and workers, later joking that he ‘might have been indicted for holding a conventicle’. Soon he was reading as fast as he could turn the pages and devouring mountains of print. He never forgot a thing. If by some miracle of vandalism, he later said, The Pilgrim’s Progress and Paradise Lost were expunged from the earth, he could restore them from memory. This was a marvellous gift for one who would make it the business and pleasure of his life to recreate the past.
It was also something of a social handicap. To be sure, Macaulay’s intellectual virtuosity was quickly recognised and rewarded. He became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, won instant renown with the first of his coruscating essays (on Milton) in the Edinburgh Review, was called to the bar and, in
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Are iPhones ruining children's lives? A prominent American psychologist thinks so.
@tiffanyjenkins is not so sure:
Tiffany Jenkins - The Smartphone Pandemic
Tiffany Jenkins: The Smartphone Pandemic - The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an...
literaryreview.co.uk
India's 'festival of democracy', or general election, begins next month. Like every good festival, it looks likely to have its fair share of murders and arrests.
@OwenBennettJon probes the state of democracy in India:
Owen Bennett-Jones - New Delhi Confidential
Owen Bennett-Jones: New Delhi Confidential - The Incarcerations: BK-16 and the Search for Democracy in India by Alpa Shah
literaryreview.co.uk
Where is the world's newest narcostate and why is it thriving?
@AdamBrookesWord investigates Asia's meth mecca.
Adam Brookes - Meth Comes to Myanmar
Adam Brookes: Meth Comes to Myanmar - Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Outwitted the CIA by Patrick Winn
literaryreview.co.uk