Who was Charilaos Trikoupis? The restless columnist of "What's wrong with us?", the concerned prime minister of "Unfortunately we went bankrupt", but also the optimistic politician of "Greece is destined to live and will live". The founder of Greek parliamentarism, the prime minister of modernization, and the father of Greek railways. This biography sheds light on his political profile, his career, the work he left behind, and what he didn't have time to do, his achievements and his mistakes. Placing him within his political and social environment, it describes the reality of his era and his efforts to overcome it. Through his personal correspondence, the press of the time, and the debates in parliament, his strong personality and his modernizing politics are highlighted. At the same time, his daily life is recreated and his private life is explored, with elements that often surprise us.

Through the narration of Charilaos Trikoupis' life, from his birth in 1832 until his death in 1896, the images of Greece's history come to life, from its independence and the monarchy of Otto to the constitutional monarchy of George I. And thus, the gradual development and evolution of the country, which he himself strove to bring to a European level, are also narrated.

Trikoupis was one of the privileged of his time, as he spent many years of his youth in Paris and London, acquiring European experience and a cosmopolitan mentality that made him different from other political leaders of the 19th century. A member of parliament at 33, a minister at 34, a party leader at 40, and a prime minister at 43, he dominated the country's political life from 1875 to 1895, with joys, satisfactions, and recognitions, but also with sorrows and disappointments. He lived a full life, which is depicted and brought to life in this biography. Framing the narration of important events with the inclusion of small details, the book helps the reader to imagine not only the image and personality of Trikoupis, but also the surrounding atmosphere of his era.