[1] The infant George Augustus Frederick succeeds to the wealthy dukedom of St James on the death of his father, whose sister's husband (Earl Fitz-pompey) expects to be ward of the young duke.

The young duke seeks solace in a ruined abbey and resolves to remove himself from May’s social circle, and gets involved in the racing set, with whom he is very popular.

He returns to London and, shortly after learning that both the Bird of Paradise and Lady Aphrodite have eloped with two of his gambling acquaintances, he writes to Mr Dacre requesting his help in resolving his financial predicament.

In subsequent correspondence Fitz-pompey reveals that Lady Aphrodite has thwarted Lucius’s demands for divorce by producing the letters between her husband and Mrs Dallington Vere, exposing their plotting.

The novel ends 4 years later with the Duke and Duchess of St James living happily with their two young children and Arundel being a much celebrated politician.

Disraeli's father, the novelist Isaac D'Israeli, expressed surprise at his son's choice of subject matter for the novel exclaiming, ‘The Young Duke!

[4][5] Over time, however, Disraeli's reservations grew such that he subsequently "bowlderised" it for the 1853 edition, in an advertisement for which he wrote that, "Young authors are apt to fall into affectation and conceit, and the writer sinned very much in this respect.

"[6][7] A review of the 1866 edition appearing in The Spectator concludes that although "we know of no more successful writer" and that The Young Duke contains "a gleam of true power" (i.e. the gambling scenes) the general level is "infinitely below - conceited, trivial, supercilious, dull.

Disraeli's biographer, Robert Blake, writes of the novel that, "It is indeed an enjoyable book despite all its absurdities of manner and diction...and [its] improbable plot...The style is artificial, full of far-fetched witticisms, convoluted antitheses, elaborate epigrams.

[10] Ironically, one of these was the concept of a Grand Tour ("The travelling career of the young Duke may be conceived by those who have wasted their time, and are compensated for that silliness by being Men of the World"[11]), which, in Disraeli's case, was to be financed by the proceeds from the book.

To the extent that the novel contains political opinion, it comprises its sympathetic treatment of the Catholic Emancipation movement and the view that the English aristocracy needs to be rejuvenated by its younger members so as to effectively discharge its leading role in the government of the country.