Through an analysis of the domestic context for Lord Palmerston's foreign policy, this text offers a different interpretation of mid-Victorian politics and of the career of one of the Victorian period's most important figures. Combining a traditional high political approach with a broad examination of popular politics, it provides a fresh reading of the politics of Palmerston's foreign policy and its bearing on the development of the Liberal party as well as considering its relationship to Palmerston's own political position. David Brown examines in detail the construction and meaning of Palmerston's reputation as the national minister and how the careful projection of this popular image to a wide audience allowed him to bring to bear on parliamentary politics a broad range of extra-parliamentary influences.