This book examines aspects of Gladstone's relationship with Ireland, setting this in the context of the United Kingdom and Empire. It is based on papers given at a conference, funded by the Department of the Taoiseach, at St Deniol's Library in Hawarden (Gladstone's home in North Wales), to mark the bicentenary of his birth. *** "Some of the most pleasing essays...explore some of Gladstone's personal qualities and how these informed the charisma that contemporaries (notably, Max Weber) ascribed to him." -- Victorian Studies, Vol. 57, No. 3, Spring 2015