"Lady Montdore is one of the greatest creations in English literature; Uncle Matthew, another; Cedric, yet another. It’s the dottiness and passions of the English aristocracy pretty much nailed in one."

"I almost left this off my list, because what’s left to say about it? Renoir celebrates the death knell of the French aristocracy with sublime grace and trenchant satire. No final shot in film history can chill me to the bone like this one."

"Anne’s frank, witty memoir of her incredible life within the nexus of British aristocracy—born the daughter of an earl, she was lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret and married to one of the most colorful eccentrics of the 20th century, Colin Tennant, the man who bought a barren rock in the Caribbean and turned it into the fabled jet-set paradise of Mustique."

"When we think of Genghis Khan, we think of one of history’s most violent pillagers and rapists. But in actuality, Genghis Khan was a great democratizer. His Mongol Empire conquered more territory in 25 years than the Romans did in 200. His strategy was to kill off the aristocracy and envelop the lowest members of society into his army. He allowed former servants to rise in rank and gain status in his empire."

"“For some reason I became enraptured by this book as a teenager. It smelled really amazing and dusty. I think our copy was from the 1940s and the pages would crumble as I turned them. I’ve never been so careful while reading a book, and I think that really endeared it to me. I’m very calmed by methodical descriptions of farming. The images of opium addiction amongst the wealthy Chinese aristocracy, who ‘smoked the flesh off their bones’, always come back to my mind; it’s so decadent and horrifying.”"