Want the story of 1860s Europe? Whet your appetite at footnotesofhistory.com/threenations Shownotes at footnotesofhistory.com/20 I don’t think there is a period of history that can’t be described as a period of change. But this one is significant. Change was in the air – including a radical reassessment of the role of the collective and the individual. And in many ways our episode this week covers some of this from the perspective of one man in particular – Robert Peel. Peel was a Tory and later invented the Conservative Party. Yet he nevertheless pioneered seismic changes to the state infrastructure. Under Peel’s steady hand, the government repaid its debts and laid the foundations for a sound financial system. It ended its blatant persecution of minority religions and it abstained from interference in society’s basic needs. Unlike many of his peers both then and now, Peel frequently sacrificed his immediate career and party for the choices he made.