- The
- origins
- of
- the
- non-royal
- dukes
- in
- the
- British
- peerage
- divide
- nicely
- into
- Tudor
- looters,
- Royal
- bastards,
- opportunist
- generals,
- territorial,
- metropolitan
- or
- Scottish
- magnates.
- Lloyd
- George
- said
- that
- a
- duke,
- fully
- equipped,
- cost
- more
- than
- a
- dreadnought
- to
- maintain
- and
- with
- their
- palaces,
- possessions
- and
- retinues,
- they
- are
- nearly
- all
- splendid.
- Some
- of
- them
- are,
- of
- course,
- now
- poor;
- some
- of
- them
- have
- great
- wealth;
- some
- of
- them
- hit
- every
- headline
- and
- others
- are
- obscure.
- But
- within
- each
- duchy,
- Brian
- Masters
- tells
- the
- story
- of
- quaint
- grandees
- determined
- to
- survive.The
- Dukes
- is
- an
- essential
- guide
- that
- provides
- vital
- biographical
- information
- and
- explores
- the
- history
- of
- the
- dukes
- in
- unprecedented
- depth.
- This
- revised
- edition
- includes
- new
- information
- which
- was
- not
- available
- on
- first
- publication,
- and
- brings
- up
- to
- date
- the
- accounts
- of
- families
- whose
- titles
- have
- passed
- to
- a
- subsequent
- generation
- in
- the
- intervening years.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
