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Review
| Aristocracy and the Modern World, by Ellis Wasson. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2006. 296 pages. $29.95, paper.
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| From the outset of Aristocracy and the Modern World, it is clear that Wasson has a deep respect for the aristocratic men and women of Europe's past, as he guards their reputations carefully with his detailed descriptions of their lives and legacies. He tells the story of Europe's aristocracy as the period of its greatest influence gave way to democratization of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, when they quietly shifted into the background of cultural importance. This book is about the procession of the Eagles and Peacocks, as Wasson adroitly describes them, from the standards of European leadership to new, diminished roles in the face of modern political and economic developments. The work is divided into eleven chapters and the first two seek to identify what aristocracy is, and was. Wasson makes a significant effort to carefully illustrate the defining aspects of aristocracy, to distinguish them from the royal families, and then further to divide them into ranks specific to different nationalities. What becomes clear is his extensive research concerning the aristocracies of every western European nation, and his comparisons amongst their distinct definitions of aristocratic rank. He does this with numerous anecdotal references and examples taken from historical records stretching back nearly one thousand years. Once defined, the core elements of the aristocracy are discussed in the next five chapters. Wasson details the reality of aristocratic wealth and family relations, as well as the complicated interrelationship of honor and noblesse-oblige. From this point forward, the author details the path of the aristocracy from the eighteenth through twentieth centuries, as they declined in number, power, and influence. What the reader is left with is the understanding that the aristocrats of Europe were not merely leisure-loving creatures of honor, feudal lords who demanded respect and adoration from their serfs, but rather a collection of classes of leaders over the masses. They led not only in wealth and land control, but also in industrialization, capitalism, and technological innovations. For these reasons, the aristocracy demands a closer inspection than simply casting them aside as the idle rich. |
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This book would be most useful in an Advanced Placement Modern European History course at the secondary level, or in post secondary Western Civilizations courses. Its introductory chapters would be valuable in any course that spent considerable time studying Europe from the time of the French Revolution, because they provide succinct definitions of the aristocratic classes. Wasson makes frequent references to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina for examples, and thus students familiar with that work would benefit from this one even more. The last chapter, titled "Aristocide" would be an excellent accompaniment to study of the two World Wars and the intervening years, as they tell not only of the developments of the lives of the nobles but also identify many familiar names as aristocratic; Winston Churchill, for one, is identified as coming from noble rank. One might also consider the book in an anthropological or sociological examination of historical Europe. |
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Wasson begins all chapters with anecdotal tales of noble families that help to illustrate the theses of the succeeding pages. The anecdotes are overwhelming positive. There are some examples of the cruelty toward or mistreatment of the lower orders, but overall the reader is left with the impression that aristocrats led benevolently and with an eye toward a future that would be bright for all. As Wasson describes the decline of aristocratic power in the twentieth century to populist democracies, fascism, communism, egalitarianism, and industrialization, one is left with the impression that something great had been lost. Especially in light of modern movements toward global equality in race, nationality, and class, the book's view that the thinning of this elite landed class should be told as a sad story might form the subject of a class discussion. Overall, Aristocracy and the Modern World is well written and professionally presented, with numerous examples and notes included. |
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| Whitman-Hanson High School, Whitman, Massachusetts |
Steven Botelho |
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