(ePUB) Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence – 9780312615451

Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence
Britain’s Great Ruling Classes from 1066 to the Present
by Lawrence James

📕 Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence – Read More 📕

• ISBN: 9780312615451 (0312615450)
• Release date: July 6, 2010
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
• Genres: history, biography, politics, research, historical
• Author: Lawrence James
• Language: english
• Format: hardcover, 438 pages

About The Book

Aristocracy means « rule by the best. » For nine hundred years, the British aristocracy considered itself ideally qualified to rule others, make laws, and guide the nation. Its virtues lay in its collective wisdom, its attachment to chivalric codes, and its sense of public duty. It evolved from a medieval warrior caste into a self-assured and sophisticated elite, which made itself the champion of popular liberty: It forced King John to sign the Magna Carta and later used its power and wealth to depose a succession of tyrannical kings from Richard II to James II. Britain’s liberties and constitution were the result of aristocratic bloody-mindedness and courage.

« Aristocrats » traces the history of this remarkable supremacy. It is a story of civil wars, conquests, intrigue, chicanery, and extremes of selflessness and greed. The aristocracy survived and, in the age of the great house and the Grand Tour, governed the first industrial nation while a knot of noblemen ruled its growing empire. Under pressure from below, this political power was slowly relinquished and then shared. Yet democratic Britain retained its aristocracy: Churchill, himself the grandson of a duke, presided over a wartime cabinet that contained six hereditary peers.

Lawrence James illuminates the culture of this singular caste, shows how its infatuation with classical art has forged England’s heritage, how its love of sport has shaped the nation’s pastimes and values, and how its scandals have entertained its public.

Impeccably researched, balanced, and brilliantly told, « Aristocrats » is an enthralling story of survival, a stunning history of wealth, power, and influence.

PDF book Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence buy PC on Book Depository. EPUB Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence Lawrence James read. FictionBook ebook Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence by Lawrence James download. Online ebook Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence on Kindle on Audible.

Paperback book Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence Lawrence James download for iOS. TXT Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence on Bookshop. Hardback book Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence by Lawrence James buy cheap. FB2 ebook Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence read online on Android on IndieBound.

MP3 Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence by Lawrence James download for iPad. MOBI ebook Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence buy cheap on Powells. Hardcover Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence read online. Online book Aristocrats: Power, Grace, and Decadence Lawrence James reader on Booktopia.