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Greig's book takes a look at the Beau Monde - the fashionable elite - ranging from the 'Glorious Revolution' up to the early part of the 19th century. The Beau Monde and The Season were instigated by the more important role of parliament following the deposition of James II by his daughter and her husband - William III & Mary II. The peerage would spend a good deal of their time in London attending parliament, and so so social 'Season' was born. It was interesting to see the extent to which politics permeated the fashionable society and the importance of 'gossip' and 'chit chat' which letters from wives to husbands can be full of. The book covers jewellery and dress, exile from the Beau Monde and fraudulent claims to membership, court attendance and much more. Particularly with the clothing and jewellery, I think this would really have been enhanced with coloured plates, but sadly all the illustrations are black and white.

In her introduction, Greig states that this book has grown out of her doctoral thesis on the subject. It is a quite a scholarly read, but not completely inaccessible to the general reader.
  
The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It
The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It
Owen Jones | 2015 | Essays, History & Politics, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences
9
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Good introduction to the power of institutions
Owen Jones' essay is essentially an introduction to a vast subject that can actually be broken down in to separate books in itself. It is a hugely fascinating, disturbing and grotesque look into how power is welded by the few.

However I feel that he spread himself a little too thin, as Martin Williams wrote a similar novel in Parliament Ltd focusing on parliamentary expenses that was far more detailed and less narrative. This would have been five stars if it had been separated.