Reviews for The European Nobility in the Eighteenth Century

The average rating for The European Nobility in the Eighteenth Century based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-12-10 00:00:00 Aaron Reid It goes almost without saying that the power and authority of the aristocracies of Europe depended on social and cultural stability ' the nobility is naturally conservative, no matter how disparate their tangible wealth. But in the 18th century, that stability was threatened by new ideas and technologies, especially democracy and the Industrial Revolution. Lukowski addresses the issues of class identity and wealth vs. birth and examines the effects of upward pressures from the working and merchant classes on their betters. Because the author is a specialist in Poland and the Baltic, this study reflects his interests (for the Western European version of the same events, he refers the reader to Albert Goodwin's study of the same name), which may limit its appeal for some. Nevertheless, this is a useful study of how aristocracy dealt with sociopolitical threats to its existence.

Review # 2 was written on 2021-01-16 00:00:00 Sarah Sterling Would have to reread to star on quality of scholarship, but for content a clear 5 for me. Still think frequently about this book's subject 5 years after reading it.