The Great Melody

A Thematic Biography of Edmund Burke

By Conor Cruise O'Brien
(University of Chicago Press, Paperback, 9780226616513, 768pp.)

Publication Date: March 1994

Categories: Historical - British

Buy online from an indie bookstore
Find an indie bookstore near you

Link to this Book


Description
Statesman, political thinker, orator, and ardent campaigner, Edmund Burke was one of the most brilliant figures of the eighteenth century. This unorthodox biography focuses on Burke's thoughts, responses, and actions to the great events and debates surrounding Britain's tumultuous relationships with her three colonies--America, Ireland, and India--and archrival France.
"In bringing Burke to our attention, Mr. O'Brien has brought back a lost treasure. "The Great Melody" is a brilliant work of narrative sweep and analytical depth. Conor Cruise O'Brien on Edmund Burke is a literary gift to political thought."--John Patrick Diggins, "New York Times Book Review"
"Serious readers of history are in for a treat: a book by the greatest living Irishman on the greatest Irishman who ever lived. . . . O'Brien's study is not merely a reconstruction of a fascinating man and period. It is also a tract for the times. . . . I cannot remember another time when I finished a book of more than 600 pages wishing it were longer."--Paul Johnson, "The Independent"
""The Great Melody" combines superb biography and fascinating history with a profound understanding of political philosophy."--Former President Richard Nixon
Indie Bookstore Finder

Indie Bestsellers

The Privileges
Jonathan Dee
Random House
The Unnamed
Joshua Ferris
Reagan Arthur Books
Committed
Elizabeth Gilbert
Viking Adult
The Crossing Places
Elly Griffiths
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Make Your Own Wishlist