This volume of The Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke continues the story of Edmund Burke, the Rockingham party in British politics, and the American crisis. By 1774 Burke was already recognized as a master of parliamentary debate and an accomplished writer. By 1780, however, his reputation was to have risen substantially. Probably the most important single reason was his Speech on Conciliation with America, which was presented to the House of Commons in March 1775, published, and circulated to a wide audience on both sides of the Atlantic. In that speech, Burke used the full force of his intellect and eloquence to set out the Rockinghams' first comprehensive plan for achieving lasting peace in the Empire. The public commendation he received helped him to gain recognition for offerings such as his second conciliation proposal in November 1775, and his Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol in 1777. It also gave him some of the confidence he needed to announce the Whig party's historic conversion to a moderate reform programme in his celebrated speeches on economical reform in 1779 and 1780. Numerous writings and speeches in this volume are transcriptions of previously unpublished manuscripts from the collections at Sheffield and Northampton. These allow the reader new insights into the workings of Burke's mind not just in relation to the major political issues, but also to a multitude of engaging subjects such as education, capital punishment, religious dissent, and the return of the Rockingham Whigs to government power,

Edmund Burke's profile page

W.M. Elofson's profile page

John A. Woods' profile page

Paul Langford's profile page

W.M. Elofson is Assistant Professor of History, University of Calgary.

'This fine edition of Burke's writings and speeches between 1774 and 1780 is a very welcome addition to the superb new edition of Burke's works under the general editorship of Paul Langford ... it is a major boon to scholars to have in print so many of his speeches which are normally only available to those with access to major research libraries and archives.' H. T. Dickinson, History

'this edition serves as a fit record of Burke's growing importance as well as the frustrations in his later period of serving the Rockinghams.' William Levine, Eighteenth Century Studies

'since 1981, the Clarendon Press has been publishing Burke's writings and speeches under the overall editorship of Paul Langford ... No one reading these genuinely engrossing volumes can doubt the calibre of Burke's mind, the power of his language, or the enduring pungency of his political comment. ... There is an enormous even surprising amount to be learnt ... from a scrupulous reading of Elofson and Wood's edition of the speeches and writings of 1774-80.' London Review of Books, 4 September 1997