Aristocratic Vice examines the outrage againstāand attempts to endāthe four vices associated with the aristocracy in eighteenth-century England: dueling, suicide, adultery, and gambling. Each of the four, it was commonly believed, owed its origin to pride. Many felt the law did not go far enough to punish those perpetrators who were members of the elite. In this exciting new book, Andrew explores each viceās treatment by the press at the time and shows how a century of public attacks on aristocratic vices promoted a sense of āclass superiorityā among the soon-to-emerge British middle class.
āDonna Andrew continues to illuminate the mental landscapes of eighteenth-century Britain. . . . No historian of the period has made greater or more effective use of the newspaper press as a source for cultural history than she. This book is evidently the product of a great deal of work and is likely to stimulate further work.āāJoanna Innes, University of Oxford
Donna T. AndrewĀ is professor emerita of history at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. She lives in Toronto.