AHC/WI/Reading List Request: Lord Grey does not become PM

[Daztur]

I’ve been a member of this site for a while now and a lurker before that and I think it’s time for me to get cracking on my first TL. The amount of knowledge that gets displayed on the best timelines in this site is pretty intimidating for a newbie but hearing EdT say that he didn’t know much of anything about the English Civil War before starting to research his (stellar) Cromwell timeline gives me hope that I can cram a similar amount of knowledge into my head before I start writing.

OK, so basically in order to set off a very specific chain of events I don’t want Lord Grey to become PM of the UK in 1830 (resigning very early or having a very early scandal to reduce his freedom to maneuver would also work) with a POD that’s as late as possible. What would this take and what effects would it have? I suppose I could give him a random stroke, but I’d prefer something a bit more subtle. Any ideas?

Also taking me doing something unpleasant to Lord Grey as the POD, what would be a good reading list for research? The timeline will start with a British focus but will quickly expand to Western Europe and the world. One of the things I like a lot about one of the first timelines I read on this site, Look to the West, is the amount of space the history of science, literature, political-economic thought etc. gets in that timeline. On the other hand, I don’t plan on extremely specific accountings of political or military history (i.e. not listing out the entire cabinet of various British governments).

Any help would be enormously appreciated. Out of copyright books would be especially useful as I don’t have access to as many English language resources as I’d like here in Korea and I’d prefer not to buy a small library.

Many thanks for any help that you can provide!

 

[Lord Douglas]

If you avoid Catholic Emancipation in 1829 you remove the split amongst the Tories between the Ultra-Tories (who opposed Emancipation) and the rest, who reluctantly went along with it, which allowed Grey into power in the first place. I think to do that you would have to remove Peel from the scene somehow, or make him less interested in Irish issues.

Incidentally stopping the Tories from enacting Emancipation also makes the Great Reform Act less immediately likely as many of the Ultra-Tories threw all their toys out of the pram at that stage and thought, if this is what an unreformed system has brought us, let's sweep it away in revenge. Rather like the reaction of some extreme Eurosceptics towards our current constitutional set-up.

 

[Daztur]

Interesting, could do some interesting things with Catholic Emancipation during the Wellington government. I'm very tempted to work the POD into the duel between Wellington and the (ultra Tory) Earl of Winchilsea since that would start the POD off with, well, a bang.

Any suggestions for a research reading list?

 

[Lord Douglas]

Well the only book that I've read about that period is Douglas Hurd's biography of Robert Peel, but it's as good a start as any.

 

[Arafeel]

"The Cambridge Modern History" Series is very good for a broad overview about everything in a give period.