Author Description

<b>AMERICAN HEIRESSES TAKE ON THE PEERAGE.</b><br><br> In 1895 nine American girls, including a Vanderbilt (railroads), LaRoche (pharmaceuticals), Rogers (oil), and Whitney (New York trolleys), married peers of the British realm—among them, a duke, an earl, three barons, and a knight. It was the peak year of a social phenomenon that began in the Gilded Age after the Civil War, and handed down the legacy of Anglomania, preppies, and the world of the television series, <i>Downton Abbey</i>.<br><br> In all, more than 100 American heiresses invaded Britannia and swapped dollars for titles. Filled with a wealth of historical personalities, grand houses, gossipy anecdotes, and a feature called <i>comme il faut—</i>the very finest points of etiquette that ruled Victorian and Edwardian society—<i>To Marry an English Lord</i> is their story.<br><br> 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—<i>To Marry An English Lord</i> is social history at its liveliest and most accessible.