Shaftesbury (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

Anthony Ashley Cooper, the First Earl of Shaftesbury (1621-1683) was a prominent politician during the reign of Charles II. He was a founder of the Whig Party, champion of the philosophical works of John Locke, and reprieved prisoner in the Tower of London. In 1886 the popular British biographer H. D. Traill brought balance to a controversial life.