Professor Richard Bourke’s new book Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Burke (link is external) chronicles the life of Edmund Burke (1730-97), a leading philosopher and statesman of the eighteenth century. In the Financial Times, the book was reviewed by Gavin Jacobson, who described it as “the finest of intellectual portraits”. “Bourke’s superb book…has a double relevance. It brings the intricacies of Burke’s mind into sharper relief than previous accounts, demonstrating that he cannot be situated within comfortingly simple categories of left and right, revolutionary and counter-revolutionary, liberal or conservative. And at a time of soaring disenchantment with politicians, it is a reminder of why we value intellectual independence.”