The Quarrel of Macaulay and Croker: Politics and History in the Age of Reform

This is the story of one of the great literary rows of the nineteenth century, between one of its greatest historians and one of its sharpest critics. The quarrel began in the House of Commons during the debates of 1831-2 on parliamentary reform and was continued in the quarterly reviews. In this highly readable study, William Thomas offers a new perspective and insight into the quarrel and its ramifications, and provides a nuanced assessment of the protagonists and their work.