The last four years of Macaulay's life, documented in this final volume of the Letters, began as an agreeable coda to the rest. He had come to terms with his invalid state, and took great satisfaction in the achievement that he had already realised.  Meer

The third volume of Thomas Pinney's acclaimed edition of Macaulay's letters brings the work to its halfway point. This volume begins with Macaulay preparing to sail for India as a member of the supreme Council, covers his Indian career, his return to England, renewed election to Parliament and appointment to the Whig Cabinet; it ends with the defeat of Melbourne's ministry.  Meer

The years covered in this fifth volume of Macaulay's letters were a striking mixture of triumph and loss. The publication of the first part of The History of England at the end of 1848 set Macaulay at the top of his fame, not merely in England, but on the Continent and in America.  Meer