The fall and rise of the English upper class

The fall and rise of the English upper class

Author: Daniel R. Smith

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2023-04-18

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 1526157004

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The fall and rise of the English upper class explores the role traditionalist worldviews, articulated by members of the historic upper-class, have played in British society in the shadow of her imperial and economic decline in the twentieth century. Situating these traditionalist visions alongside Britain’s post-Brexit fantasies of global economic resurgence and a socio-cultural return to a green and pleasant land, Smith examines Britain’s Establishment institutions, the estates of her landed gentry and aristocracy, through to an appetite for nostalgic products represented with pastoral or pre-modern symbolism. It is demonstrated that these institutions and pursuits play a central role in situating social, cultural and political belonging. Crucially these institutions and pursuits rely upon a form of membership which is grounded in a kinship idiom centred upon inheritance and descent: who inherits the houses of privilege, inherits England.


Born to Rule

Born to Rule

Author: Aaron S. Reeves

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2024

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0674257715

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This data-rich sociological study uses everything from census figures to Who's Who to analyze how, over 125 years, the British elite have used status, elite education, and powerful social networks to shape politics and cultural values. But what happens when elites begin to change--in what they look like, value, and how they position themselves?


The Fall and Rise of the Stately Home

The Fall and Rise of the Stately Home

Author: Peter Mandler

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1997-01-01

Total Pages: 540

ISBN-13: 9780300078695

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Challenging the prevailing view of a modern English culture besotted with its history and aristocracy, Mandler portrays instead a continuously changing society where both intellectual and popular attitudes have only recently turned to admiration.


Country House Society

Country House Society

Author: Pamela Horn

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2013-10-15

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 1445635380

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Forget glossy period dramas, here is the real story of Britain's super-rich from the First World War to the end of the 'roaring' twenties.


Rich

Rich

Author: Lawrence R. SAMUEL

Publisher: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn

Published: 2009-07-01

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 0814413633

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As Americans, we have been taught to be obsessed with money and the people who have it. We are curious about what they buy, where they vacation, and what separates them from the rest of us. Rich puts the American obsession with all things money into much-needed perspective and context, exposing the origins of the upper class. The book traces the history of the American rich from 1920 up to today, examining the who, what, when, where, and why of the wealthy elite. With its hundreds of compelling, real-life stories, Rich offers a fascinating window into this world few ever see. Samuel delves into the secrets about the rich and famous: Who were the Gateses, Bransons, and Trumps (and even Paris Hiltons) of the past? How did the rich show off their status? What did they splurge on and how did they scrimp when times got tough? Rich also explores the rise of the first mass affluent class in America and the virtual demise of old money as we knew it. Enlightening and often surprising, Rich gives us a deeper understanding of our country's wealthiest and most enigmatic class.


The Rise and Fall of Class in Britain

The Rise and Fall of Class in Britain

Author: David Cannadine

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 9780231096676

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Although politicians in Britain are now calling for a "classless society," can one conclude, as do many scholars, that class does not matter anymore? Cannadine uncovers the meanings of class for such disparate figures as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Margaret Thatcher and identifies the moments when opinion shifted, such as the aftermath of the French Revolution and the rise of the Labour Party in the early twentieth century.


The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen

The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen

Author: Juliet Ashton

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2019-12-26

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 1471168417

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‘Charming and uplifting’ – My Weekly This is a novel about community, love, laughter and healing. Think Cold Feet meets David Nicholls, with a dash of the joy of Jill Mansell added for good measure. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but Cherry Blossom Mews is a miraculous place. It's somewhere that finds you, rather than the other way around. Sadie McQueen has leased a double fronted space in this small cul de sac in a culturally diverse corner of central London. The cobbles muffle the noise of double-deckers roaring past the arched gates. Turn right and you are in a futuristic maze of corporate glass monoliths. Turn left and you see a wide street with many different houses. Towering above the mews are the degenerating tower blocks of an infamous estate. The old folks home and the nearby school are both in need of TLC; the private members' club that set up shop in a listed Georgian building has been discreetly refurbished at huge expense. Into this confusion comes Sadie. She fell in love with the street the moment she first twisted her ankle on its cobbles. Her double-fronted unit is now a spa. She has sunk all her money into the lease and refurbishment. She's sunk all her hope into the carefully designed treatment rooms, the calm white reception space, the bijou flat carved out of the floor above. Sadie has a mission to connect. To heal herself from tragedy. Sadie has wrapped the mews around her like a warm blanket, after unimaginable loss and unimaginable guilt. Her hard-won peace is threatened, not only by the prospect of the mews going under but by a man aptly named Hero who wakes up her comatose heart. Sadie has a lot to give, and a lot to learn, not least that some ghosts aren't ghosts at all. Praise for Juliet Ashton's novels: ‘A warming testament to the elasticity and enduring love of true family bonds. I adored this book' Penny Parkes 'Fresh, funny and utterly fabulous’ Heat ‘A joy from start to finish. The relationships within the family ring so true. And the twists kept me guessing. A beautiful book’ Laura Kemp


Noble Ambitions

Noble Ambitions

Author: Adrian Tinniswood

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2021-09-21

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1541617991

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A rollicking tour of the English country home after World War II, when swinging London collided with aristocratic values As the sun set slowly on the British Empire, its mansions fell and rose. Ancient families were reduced to demolishing the parts of their stately homes they could no longer afford, dukes and duchesses desperately clung to their ancestral seats, and a new class of homeowners bought their way into country life. A delicious romp, Noble Ambitions pulls us into these crumbling halls of power, leading us through the juiciest bits of postwar aristocratic history—from Mick Jagger dancing at deb balls to the scandals of Princess Margaret. Capturing the spirit of the age, historian Adrian Tinniswood proves that the country house is not only an iconic symbol, but a lens through which to understand the shifting fortunes of the British elite in an era of monumental social change.