Debating England's Aristocracy in the 1790s

The 1790s saw a lively French Revolution Debate in England with much space and intellectual energy in classic texts by men such as Burke and Paine and ensuing pamphlet literature devoted characterisations and representations of the aristocracy; yet this is the first full-scale survey of the subject. Dr Goodrich takes a fresh approach to the topic illustrating the complexities of the bitter battle fought out in such texts between radicals and loyalists and highlighting the persistent viciousness and vitriol of a radical anti-aristocratic rhetoric. However she demonstrates that the loyalist response contained the more innovative campaign bringing out in particular the development of a commercial loyalism which promoted a new model of society with a modern aristocracy and an open elite; what emerges are English defences of aristocracy which are not simply reducible to ideas of an ancien régime or a Gothic institution. Amanda Goodrich is a lecturer in the history department of the Open University.