First published in 1999. Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, born 3 February 1830; known as Lord Robert Cecil until June 1865 and thereafter as Viscount Cranborne until his succession as the third Marquess of Salisbury in April 1868. This is a study of a notably cerebral politician, who revealed the qualities necessary for success and survival in a career to which he appeared unsuited at the start. No prime minister was less inclined to accept conventional wisdom at face value, or to succumb to the routines of office