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Prologue : presuppositions and problems. Bias and intention ; Wealth, status, and power ; Correlation, comparisons, and consciousness ; The 1880s : a troubled decade ; Conclusion : the end of the beginning
Intimations of mortality. The embattled elite. The end of the patrician polity ; The assault on 'landlordism' ; Armageddon and afterwards ; The world turned upside-down
The decline and dispersal of territorial wealth. Landed riches eroded and overwhelmed ; The breakup of great estates ; The disposal of non-agricultural assets ; The diversity of experience ; A balance sheet
The erosion of local control. County representation : from deference to democracy ; County government : from oligarchy to bureaucracy ; Ireland : Ruritania and revolution ; 'The end of the notables'
The eclipse of senatorial order. The Commons : country gentlemen to 'hard-nosedmen' ; The Lords : territorial nobility to plutocratic peerage ; The Cabinet : 'governing families' to career politicians ; Prime ministers : Lord Salisbury to Mr Chamberlain ; Vanishing supremacies
The demise of patrician professionals. The Civil Service and the Court ; The law and the Church ; The armed forces ; The Foreign Service ; A disguised revolution
The 'corruption' of public life. The proliferation of titles ; The sale of honours ; The attack on 'decency' ; The impotence of being earnest
The dilution of select society. The lowering of high society ; The county community undermined ; The allure of far-off places ; From leisure to pleasure
The light of common day. From leisured class to labouring aristocracy. New professionals and familiar failings ; The City : figure-heads and financiers ; Patrician professionals overseas ; The migratory élite ; Hobson revisited
Lost causes and disappointed hopes. The land : love's labours lost ; The Lords : a comedy of errors ; Ireland : the winter's tale ; The Church : much ado about nothing ; All's not well
The politics of paranoia. The passing of the Whigs ; The ditching of the die-hards ; Labour aristocrats ; Extremism in extremis ; 'Traitors to their class'
The reconstruction of social prestige. The towns : 'ornamental' mayors ; The nation : 'the great and the good' ; The Empire : 'great ornamentals' ; Schumpeter revisited
The Second World War. Climacteric and continuity ; Marginals and mavericks ; Death and destruction ; Victors and victims
The end of the War. Plenty and poverty ; Elegant anachronisms ; Insubstantial pageants fading ; Guardians or parasites?
Perfections and perspectives. The European perspective ; The national context ; Lions into unicorns
Appendices. A, The greatest British landowners, c. 1880 ; B, Patrician members of British Cabinets, 1880-1890 ; C, Senior posts in the Foreign and Diplomatic services ; D, Titled company directors, 1896 and 1920 ; E, Patrician mayors of British towns, 1880-1945 ; F, Chancellors of British universities, 1880-1945 ; G, Viceroys of India and Governors-General of British dominions ; H, Patterns of estate ownership, 1876-1976.
Intimations of mortality. The embattled elite. The end of the patrician polity ; The assault on 'landlordism' ; Armageddon and afterwards ; The world turned upside-down
The decline and dispersal of territorial wealth. Landed riches eroded and overwhelmed ; The breakup of great estates ; The disposal of non-agricultural assets ; The diversity of experience ; A balance sheet
The erosion of local control. County representation : from deference to democracy ; County government : from oligarchy to bureaucracy ; Ireland : Ruritania and revolution ; 'The end of the notables'
The eclipse of senatorial order. The Commons : country gentlemen to 'hard-nosedmen' ; The Lords : territorial nobility to plutocratic peerage ; The Cabinet : 'governing families' to career politicians ; Prime ministers : Lord Salisbury to Mr Chamberlain ; Vanishing supremacies
The demise of patrician professionals. The Civil Service and the Court ; The law and the Church ; The armed forces ; The Foreign Service ; A disguised revolution
The 'corruption' of public life. The proliferation of titles ; The sale of honours ; The attack on 'decency' ; The impotence of being earnest
The dilution of select society. The lowering of high society ; The county community undermined ; The allure of far-off places ; From leisure to pleasure
The light of common day. From leisured class to labouring aristocracy. New professionals and familiar failings ; The City : figure-heads and financiers ; Patrician professionals overseas ; The migratory élite ; Hobson revisited
Lost causes and disappointed hopes. The land : love's labours lost ; The Lords : a comedy of errors ; Ireland : the winter's tale ; The Church : much ado about nothing ; All's not well
The politics of paranoia. The passing of the Whigs ; The ditching of the die-hards ; Labour aristocrats ; Extremism in extremis ; 'Traitors to their class'
The reconstruction of social prestige. The towns : 'ornamental' mayors ; The nation : 'the great and the good' ; The Empire : 'great ornamentals' ; Schumpeter revisited
The Second World War. Climacteric and continuity ; Marginals and mavericks ; Death and destruction ; Victors and victims
The end of the War. Plenty and poverty ; Elegant anachronisms ; Insubstantial pageants fading ; Guardians or parasites?
Perfections and perspectives. The European perspective ; The national context ; Lions into unicorns
Appendices. A, The greatest British landowners, c. 1880 ; B, Patrician members of British Cabinets, 1880-1890 ; C, Senior posts in the Foreign and Diplomatic services ; D, Titled company directors, 1896 and 1920 ; E, Patrician mayors of British towns, 1880-1945 ; F, Chancellors of British universities, 1880-1945 ; G, Viceroys of India and Governors-General of British dominions ; H, Patterns of estate ownership, 1876-1976.