This is the first comprehensive study of the traditional European ruling class during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Distilling the wealth of recent research for students and general readers, Wasson analyzes the role of aristocracy, focusing on the tensions that exist between modern egalitarian values and the way elites shape society. Topics include: wealth, family, conceptions of honour, relations with other classes, culture, recreation, gender, local authority and national power. Individual studies enliven the text.

Designed to complement the author's A History of Modern Britain, this collection of primary sources illuminates and augments the study of modern Britain with coverage of political, imperial, and economic history as well as class and cultural issues

• Features a broad range of documents, in a well-structured and easy-to-use format, including important, well-known documents and lesser-known excerpts from memoirs and private correspondence
• Provides up-to-date, balanced coverage of political, imperial, social, economic, and cultural history with over 180 documents
...