this is a finely honed and well-argued monograph, with a challenging thesis and plenty of material within individual chapters for students and scholars to examine, whetting the appetite for further reflection on the state

Andrew Vincent, Australian National University, Political Studies, Vol. 45, No. 1, March '97

Meadowcroft has his own distinctive voice in the discussion, writes in a stylish academic prose and raises far more serious issues about method than the others. If his book takes us back into well-trodden territory, moreover, it has the virtues of being intelligent, brutish and short ... stimulating text

Times Literary Supplement

a close examination of the political discourse of the period 1870-1914, trawling widely through periodical articles and parliamentary speeches

G.R. Searle, University of East Anglia, The Historical Association 1997