The Origins of the English Gentry
The Origins of the English Gentry

Author: Peter Coss

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2005-10-13

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 9780521021005

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Although the gentry played a central role in medieval England, this study is the first sustained exploration of its origins and development between the mid-thirteenth and the mid-fourteenth century. Arguing against views which see the gentry as formed or created earlier, the text investigates as well the relationship between lesser landowners and the Angevin state; the transformation of knighthood; and the role of lesser landowners in society and politics.

The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy
The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy

Author: David Cannadine

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780141023137

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At the outset of the 1870s, the British aristocracy could rightly consider themselves the most fortunate people on earth: they held the lion's share of land, wealth and power in the world's greatest empire. By the end of the 1930s they had lost not only a generation of sons in the First World War, but also much of their prosperity, prestige and political significance.David Cannadine shows how this shift came about and how it was reinforced in the aftermath of the Second World War. Lucidly written and sparkling with wit, The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy is a landmark study that dramatically changes our understanding of British social history

Aristocracy: A Very Short Introduction
Aristocracy: A Very Short Introduction

Author: William Doyle

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-11-25

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 0199206783

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This engaging introduction shows how ideas of aristocracy originated in ancient times, were transformed in the middle ages, and have only fallen apart over the last two centuries.

The Coming of the French Revolution
The Coming of the French Revolution

Author: Georges Lefebvre

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2019-12-31

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 0691206937

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The classic book that restored the voices of ordinary people to our understanding of the French Revolution The Coming of the French Revolution remains essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of this great turning point in the formation of the modern world. First published in 1939 on the eve of the Second World War and suppressed by the Vichy government, this classic work explains what happened in France in 1789, the first year of the French Revolution. Georges Lefebvre wrote history “from below”—a Marxist approach—and in this book he places the peasantry at the center of his analysis, emphasizing the class struggles in France and the significant role they played in the coming of the revolution. Eloquently translated by the historian R. R. Palmer and featuring an introduction by Timothy Tackett that provides a concise intellectual biography of Lefebvre and a critical appraisal of the book, this Princeton Classics edition offers perennial insights into democracy, dictatorship, and insurrection.

Entitled
Entitled

Author: Chris Bryant

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2017-09-07

Total Pages: 642

ISBN-13: 1473525519

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"A proudly partisan history of the British aristocracy - which scores some shrewd hits against the upper class themselves, and the nostalgia of the rest of us for their less endearing eccentricities. A great antidote to Downton Abbey." (Mary Beard) Exploring the extraordinary social and political dominance enjoyed by the British aristocracy over the centuries, Entitled seeks to explain how a tiny number of noble families rose to such a position in the first place. It reveals the often nefarious means they have employed to maintain their wealth, power and prestige and examines the greed, ambition, jealousy and rivalry which drove aristocratic families to guard their interests with such determination. In telling their history, Entitled introduces a cast of extraordinary characters: fierce warriors, rakish dandies, political dilettantes, charming eccentrics, arrogant snobs and criminals who quite literally got away with murder.