<p>Patron of Florence Nightingale, high society and the Arts, Sidney Herbert was hailed in his own times as a statesman, administrative reformer and co-founder of modern Liberalism. Strangely neglected since his death, this biography brilliantly recaptures, through its subject, the many paradoxes of Victorian Britain. At once both Irish landlord and &lsquo;One of the most worthy Wiltshiremen who ever lived&rsquo;, only fatal illness deprived Sidney Herbert of the keys to Downing Street.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>