Drawing on Disraeli's letters, as well as his prolific political propaganda, epic poetry, journalism and novels, this book takes a look at the Tory leader's romantic youth - bursts of creative energy alternating with bouts of depression and indolence. Raised in Jewish literary Bloomsbury by his father, Isaac, Disraeli's speculations lost him a fortune he did not possess before he was 21, and his hot and hurried novel Vivian Grey catapulted him to precocious fame and infamy. Dissatisfied, he travelled east and discovered Jerusalem; convinced of his own genius he returned to conquer London. This book charts his erratic progress along the path strewn with debts and mistresses which led, via literature, to Parliament and power. Baptised a Christian, he grew to believe in his racial superiority as a Jew; a Tory in Parliament, he boasted a revolutionary mind and sympathised with Chartists; a fortune-hunting adventurer, his marriage to a wealthy older widow turned out a mutual emotional success.