Reviews for Theories of power and domination

The average rating for Theories of power and domination based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-06-18 00:00:00 Aage Magne Sjoethun This enjoyable and readable book would be of infinite use to Americans (and others) confused about the workings of the British peerage; however, having been written in the late 1970s, the information is out of date, especially with the passage of the House of Lords Act in 1999, which set in motion the abolition of hereditary peerages--or at least the amendment of the right of such peers to sit in the House of Lords. However, for the enthusiast of historical fiction set in the UK, it might help sort out the bewildering array of Dukes and Earls and Lords. The author's cheeky style shows his own opinion--that the UK will be better off for not leaving its government up at least partly to those born to the position, even though he was able to find some sterling examples of hereditary peers; we were especially fond of his description of the 11th Duke of Devonshire, father of the present Duke, who seemed like an absolute duck. Lots of fun and certainly worth a read for those interested in the subject. The ebook was inexpensive and had only a couple of OCR errors that we noticed.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-12-30 00:00:00 ktqxqtcy catuiile I feel like I've been reading this book since the beginning of time. This is not because it's bad. It's because it's old. This was published in 1984. Most of the information seems to halt around the lat '70s. While still good information about the various families, I found myself at wikipedia nearly constantly checking up on the latest info. So then I would fall down the wikipedia wormhole. An hour later, I would get back to what I was reading. The book makes a strong case that even in 1984, the House of Lords was just plain silly. And that dichotomy of the "noble class" makes you long for Downton Abbey-esque nobility and their select set. Winchester is a great story-teller, and his ability to interweave the examples of lords-in-name-only with "but I'm a Lord" types is exquisite. He juxtaposes murderers with farmers. For the record, it seems that no one with a title can keep a marriage going for longer than a week. I also thought the nobility frowned at divorce, but it seems not. Good read, fun, but have your computer open at all times.