Opening paragraphs............

"Benjamin Disraeli's career was an extraordinary one; but
there is no need to make it seem more extraordinary than it
really was.  His point of departure, though low by the
standards of nineteenth-century Prime Ministers, was neither
as humble nor as alien as some people have believed.  It is
possible to overestimate the obstacles in his way and
underestimate the assets he possessed."

-Robert Blake, Disraeli