Chris Wrigley provides a critical history of the Conservative Party from its rise in popularity under Disraeli and Salisbury in the late nineteenth century to the Thatcher and Major administrations. The author examines the success of the party, its ability to adapt and the reasons for its appeal. He focuses on the key themes over the period, such as the social status that the party conferred on the upwardly mobile, through the Freemasons and the Rotary and Lions clubs; and the network of support and patronage often attached to the monarchy. The cultures that have emerged around Conservatism are examined, such as Baldwin's patronage of rural England, the paternalist-landowner images of Macmillan and Douglas-Home and the upwardly-mobile meritocracy of Heath. Wrigley also examines the Conservative Party's drive for power, its willingness to discard unsuccessful leaders, and its perceived tendency to do whatever has been necessary to gain and maintain power.