Emergence of a Ruling Order
English Landed Society 1650-1750

By James M. Rosenheim
May 1998
Pearson Education
ISBN: 0582087414
304 pages.
$57.50 Paper Original

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An important new study which considers how the English landed gentry secured their position of wealth and power from the mid seventeenth century. Over this crucial century they were transformed from a provincial social order to a national ruling elite. The history of the gentry and aristocracy has been the subject of much lively scholarship in recent years. This contribution looks at the shaping of the cultural identity of the landed classes, the new world of party politics in late Stuart and early Hanoverian eras and the influence of the ruling class on the supposed political stability of the mid-eighteenth century.

Contents
1. Introduction. 2. The accidents of birth, the incidence of marriage and the influence of education. 3. Agriculture, the landed estate and business. 4. The transformation of county identity. 5. Central government and national politics. 6. Cultural separation and cultural politics. 7. The influence of the metropolis. 8. Conclusion.

Features " Incorporates lively new scholarship together with Rosenheim's own research to make a major contribution to the debate. " Explores all aspects of the lives of the gentry and reveals their shared values - unlike existing studies which have focused on the divisions amongst them. " Integrates social, political, cultural and economic history of the eighteenth-century.

Review " A wide-ranging book that many will find informative and entertaining." The historical association, 2000

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