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To Marry an English Lord

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To Marry an English Lord

By: Gail MacColl, Carol McD. Wallace
Narrated by: Kate Reading
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About this listen

From the Gilded Age until 1914, more than 100 American heiresses invaded Britannia and swapped dollars for titles-just like Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, the first of the Downton Abbey characters Julian Fellowes was inspired to create after reading To Marry An English Lord. Filled with vivid personalities, gossipy anecdotes, grand houses, and a wealth of period details-plus photographs, illustrations, quotes, and the finer points of Victorian and Edwardian etiquette- To Marry An English Lord is social history at its liveliest and most accessible.

©1989, 2012 Gail MacColl & Carol McD. Wallace (P)2014 Tantor Americas Europe Great Britain United States England

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Critic reviews

"In your very flattering article about books that might please fans of Downton Abbey, I was sorry that one title was missing: To Marry an English Lord. . . . It is a marvelous and entertaining study." ---Julian Fellowes, writer and creator of Downton Abbey
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This shines a light on a fascinating aspect of Edwardian society - American heiresses, the money and the young women behind it. Full of unusual nuggets of information about the preoccupations of the leisured classes - weird and disgusting in its solipsism, but also ephemeral and strangely beautiful.

Little- known bit of history

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This book should be called snobbery and desperation.

The American heiresses were desperate for the elitism of European aristocracy. And the cash strapped English aristocrats were desperate for the money of the American heiresses to support their lives of leisure and maintain their stately homes that were always in need of repairs. The class snobbery went both ways. The newly wealthy American families wanted to buy “class” and the social snobbery…oops…standing that would come with such marriages. The English aristocrats would sneer at the gaudiness of the American lifestyle (whilst benefitting). No matter what they thought turning up their patrician noses at the American heiresses, these women modernised English aristocracy and their drab and shabby English mansions.

What stood out was their moral hypocrisy, the ostentation of their wealth and their profligacy. What a wasteful generation.

Historically interesting

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Historically informative. The lighter side of history. Excellent story. Well-written and superbly narrated. I thoroughly enjoyed it

Very entertaining

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Hidden gem of a book; witty and engaging and funny. I had the most cursory knowledge of the period and picked this up on a whim, and couldn't be more pleased - I got it for free but it's definitely worth its full price.

Engaging without any prior knowledge.

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Interesting but often repetitive and full of lists without context. Not as enjoyable as I expected.

Slow going and full of lists

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