British Aristocracy and the Modern World - (Proceedings of the British Academy) by Miles Taylor & Christopher Ridgway (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In the thirty-five years since the publication of David Cannadine's Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy (1990) the power of Britain's landed elite declined, but they remain far from extinct. One-third of Britain's land still belongs to the aristocracy. Moreover, partly inspired by Cannadine's book, we now know much more about the ways in which the aristocracy established their hold on modernity, and how they have lasted so long. Many key questions remain. How much was this a distinctively British story, to what extent were things different in Scotland, Wales and Ireland? Does 'decline and fall' accurately describe what happened to landed elites in other countries, particularly in western Europe, or amongst assimilated elites such as Jews? Was the 'soft' power of the aristocracy - their role in the arts, philanthropy and higher education - as significant as their political and economic sway? How dependent on the colonies, and also the USA, were the British aristocracy for their wealth in the first place, and how did their role overseas change their profile at home? This volume brings together a wide-ranging group of scholars to explore The Decline and Fall, developing its themes in new ways, and investigating other aspects for the first time.

Review Quotes

Dr Jennifer Davey, Director, History of Parliament Trust

Offering a thoughtful, intelligent, and lively appraisal of David Cannadine's The Decline and Fall the British Aristocracy, this collection offers fresh perspectives on the British landed elite and opens up new avenues for research and debate. It traces the intersections of power and privilege through regional, imperial, transnational, gender and religious histories. This will be an important work for all those interested in the evolving dynamics of the British aristocracy.

Professor Peter Mandler FBA, Professor of Modern Cultural History, University of Cambridge

The British aristocracy seems always to be declining and never to have fallen. As these essays show, it retains today a good deal of its wealth and, if not its political power, still its power to arouse debate and controversy. The recent scholarship showcased here covers all four nations of the United Kingdom and Ireland too, Jewish, German, Indian, Caribbean and American connections, women as wives and philanthropists, and the waxing and waning of fortunes over time - revealing a class much more multifarious, globalized and resilient than is usually recognized.