A Political Biography of Samuel Johnson

Nicholas Hudson

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Samuel Johnson (1709–84) rose from obscure origins to become one of the major literary figures of the eighteenth century as a poet, essayist, lexicographer, literary critic and conversationalist. He was also renowned as one of the most outspoken and controversial political commentators of the age, fomenting both admiration and rage in his own time, and still dividing scholars and readers to this day. Hudson’s biography reassesses the evidence for Johnson being an arch-conservative, as some have thought, or as a humane liberal, as others have argued. Through a detailed survey not only of Johnson’s major works, but his numerous pieces of political journalism, Hudson constructs a complex picture of Johnson as a deeply committed Christian moralist who came to accept the essentially realistic nature of politics during an era of revolutionary transition.

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A Political Biography of Samuel Johnson

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi

CONTENTS
pp vii-vii

Dedication
pp viii-viii

Acknowledgements
pp ix-x

Note on the Text
pp xi-xii

Introduction
pp 1-8

1 - Political Origins, 1709–36
pp 9-32

2 - The Patriot Opposition, 1737–9
pp 33-56

3 - An Independent Voice, 1740–55
pp 57-88

4 - The Seven Years War, 1756–63
pp 89-118

5 - Defender of King and State, 1763–70
pp 119-150

6 - Troubles of Empire, 1771–84
pp 151-190

Conclusion
pp 191-194

Notes
pp 195-220

Works Cited
pp 221-234

Index
pp 235-243

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A Political Biography of Samuel Johnson

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