This volume covers some of the most dramatic years of Gladstone's political life: his formal retirement from politics in 1875, his return to take the lead in the Bulgarian Atrocities campaign in 1876, the Midlothian Campaigns of 1879-80, and the opening months of his return to power in 1880. 'meticulous preparation ... Colin Matthew magnificently justifies his claim that "Gladstone's diary ..." should be seen as "one of the central private documents" in unlocking our understanding of the Victorian mentalité.' Times Literary Supplement