Summary
Summary of Coningsby; Or, the New Generation
Coningsby; Or, the New Generation at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 10 h 25 min8 h 15 min fast, 12 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 148,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1844by Benjamin Disraeli
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
A wealthy family withholds its love
Harry Coningsby arrives from Eton hoping to find affection in his grandfather’s house. He is an orphan whose father was rejected for marrying against Lord Monmouth’s wishes. His mother lived apart from her son on a small allowance, and her letters remain precious to him.
Instead of the loving welcome he imagines, Harry meets a polished, distant nobleman who asks about school. He is soon forbidden to mention his parents. His place in this powerful family offers wealth without the warmth he needs.
Key idea 2
Courage breaks through a class divide
At Eton, Coningsby dislikes Oswald Millbank partly because his father is a cotton manufacturer.
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Key idea 3
Party victory replaces political purpose
A country shooting party becomes a political council, with Tadpole and Taper counting voters and thinking about office.
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Key idea 4
A stranger awakens belief in youth
Sheltering from a storm at an inn, Coningsby meets a stranger who changes the direction of his thinking.
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Key idea 5
Industry offers another vision of England
Manchester reveals a world Coningsby cannot understand through aristocratic assumptions alone.
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Key idea 6
Public favour serves a private ambition
At Coningsby Castle, Lord Monmouth welcomes his grandson as an heir, but affection is bound up with ambition.
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Key idea 7
National character matters more than machinery
Sidonia urges Coningsby to look beyond the forms of government to the people who give them meaning.
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Key idea 8
Inherited hatred threatens a new love
At Cambridge, Coningsby and his friends search for politics grounded in principles rather than party advantage.
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Key idea 9
Principles test the promise of youth
Coningsby’s movement towards public life is also an education in what deserves his loyalty.
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who it’s for
This is for readers who enjoy political satire, sharp portraits of Victorian high society, young heroes with big ideas, and a love story set against rival families and rival classes.
What this book is
What happens when a clever, kind boy is summoned from Eton to meet the grandfather who let his mother die alone? The first thing the great lord asks him is how he likes school. The boy bursts into tears, and the old man decides he is a softhead.
Benjamin Disraeli published Coningsby, or The New Generation, in 1844. He wanted to show that the Tory party had lost its principles and that young men of a new kind could win them back. He wrapped his argument in a story of elections, castles, factories and love. You get a boy's rise, a bitter family feud, a forbidden love, and a gallery of schemers and prophets.
In this summary
- 1A wealthy family withholds its loveFree
- 2Courage breaks through a class divide
- 3Party victory replaces political purpose
- 4A stranger awakens belief in youth
- 5Industry offers another vision of England
- 6Public favour serves a private ambition
- 7National character matters more than machinery
- 8Inherited hatred threatens a new love
- 9Principles test the promise of youth
A schoolboy is summoned to meet his grandfather
The story opens in May 1832, in a London house that serves as a Tory headquarters. A boy of about thirteen waits there. He is Harry Coningsby, a bright, open-faced Etonian, and the man who comes to fetch him is Mr. Rigby.
Coningsby is an orphan. His father was cut off by Lord Monmouth, the richest nobleman in England, for marrying against his wishes. His mother was sent to live on a small allowance in a distant county, parted from her son, and she died there. The boy still treasures her letters.
Now Lord Monmouth has come home from Italy to fight the Reform Bill, and he wants a look at his grandson. The boy pictures a loving old man opening his arms. Instead he meets a bald, polished figure leaning on an ivory cane, who asks only whether he likes Eton. He is soon told never to mention his dead parents in this house.
A family can be rich in everything except love.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Check yourself
What begins the friendship between Coningsby and Oswald Millbank?
Right. “Coningsby hears the cry, dives in, and drags him out before fainting on the bank.”Not quite. “Coningsby hears the cry, dives in, and drags him out before fainting on the bank.”
What does Sidonia see as England’s danger?
Right. “England's danger is social disorganisation, with its classes set against each other.”Not quite. “England's danger is social disorganisation, with its classes set against each other.”
Why does Mr. Millbank forbid Coningsby’s marriage to Edith?
Right. “He says the match is impossible, since Lord Monmouth is his sworn enemy.”Not quite. “He says the match is impossible, since Lord Monmouth is his sworn enemy.”
Go deeper: the whole of Coningsby; Or, the New Generation
About 10 h 50 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 148,900 words
- Reading timeAbout 10 h 25 min
Questions about Coningsby; Or, the New Generation
What is Coningsby about?
Coningsby follows Harry Coningsby, an orphan raised at Eton, as he meets his powerful grandfather, finds a mentor in Sidonia, falls in love with a manufacturer's daughter, and searches for principles that can renew English politics.
Who is Sidonia in Coningsby?
Sidonia is a rich, brilliant financier of Spanish Jewish descent, widely believed to be modelled on a real banking family. He befriends Coningsby and teaches him that great ideas, character and individual genius shape history.
What does the New Generation mean in the title?
It means the young men like Coningsby, Millbank and their friends who have grown up after the Reform Bill. They hope to replace empty party slogans with real faith and principles, and to renew the nation.
Is Coningsby a true story and when was it written?
It is a work of fiction, published in 1844, but it draws on real events such as the Reform Bill crisis of 1832 and Peel's government. Several characters echo real politicians and society figures of the time.
Is Coningsby easy to follow?
The story has a clear thread, lively dinners, comic election scenes and short chapters. Characters like Rigby, Tadpole and Taper are memorable, and the longer political talks are anchored in friendships and a love story.
Cite this edition
Disraeli, Benjamin. Coningsby; Or, the New Generation. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/coningsby-or-the-new-generation.
Disraeli, B. (2026). Coningsby; or, the new generation. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/coningsby-or-the-new-generation (Original work published 1844)
Disraeli, Benjamin. Coningsby; Or, the New Generation. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/coningsby-or-the-new-generation.
@book{disraeli2026coningsby,
author = {Disraeli, Benjamin},
title = {Coningsby; Or, the New Generation},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/coningsby-or-the-new-generation},
note = {First published 1844}
}
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