The last two volumes of Gladstone's diaries depict the extraordinary energy of a remarkable octogenarian: Gladstone was eighty-four when he resigned the Premiership in 1894 to close his fourth administration. His pursuit of 'justice for Ireland' through the successful passage of a Home Rule Bill through the Commons in 1893 forms the political centrepiece of these volumes. But there is also a wealth of material on imperial, foreign, domestic, and religious...