The Complete Colonial Gentleman - by Michal Jan Rozbicki (Paperback)

About the Book

Rozbicki's interpretation contrasts provocatively with recent studies of colonial America and demonstrates how the essentially conservative aspirations of colonial planter gentility foreshadowed distinctly American and democratice developments.

Book Synopsis

The colonial plantation elite's persistent emulation of the British landed gentry has long intrigued American historians, who recently have insisted that the pursuit of this apparently outdated ideal was an impediment to the development of a distinctive American culture. In The Complete Colonial Gentleman, Michal J. Rozbicki argues that such a view misreads the legitimizing process and the history of culture.

Rozbicki's interpretation contrasts provocatively with recent studies of colonial America and demonstrates how the essentially conservative aspirations of colonial planter gentility foreshadowed distinctly American and democratice developments.

Review Quotes

"The Complete Colonial Gentleman may easily be called a tour de force. It makes its case about the nature and significance of the southern colonial elite so adroitly and convincingly that one wonders why it was not done before. Rozbicki's portrayal of the southern gentry makes it clear that they were a genuine upper class who came to accept their own legitimacy and to play an indispensable role in the forging of a more broadly conceived American society."

About the Author

Michal J. Rozbicki is Associate Professor of History at Saint Louis University.