Eleanor Doughty: Heirs & Graces

We are delighted to be joined by Eleanor Doughty on Tuesday 21st October at 7pm as she discusses her wonderfully rich, often amusing and always revealing account of the fortunes of the aristocracy over the past century and a series of fascinating glimpses into what it is like to be an aristocrat in Britain today, in her new book . Exploring the rites, traditions and challenges that have shaped the modern British nobility, Eleanor's hugely entertaining volume sheds fascinating light on the lives, loves and eccentricities of the post-war British aristocrats.

There are fewer than 5000 people who can genuinely claim to be members of the British aristocracy, and yet they loom large in the popular consciousness. We're fascinated by their houses and estates, their lives and loves, their foibles and eccentricities. And we entertain the strong suspicion that, while they may be fellow citizens, they are very far from being People Like Us.

In Heirs and Graces Eleanor Doughty draws on her unparalleled access to a bewildering range of dukes, duchesses, earls and others to create a vivid picture of who they are and how they tick. En route she traces their progress from a post-war era when they and their like were described by one future Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer as 'selfish, depraved, dissolute and decadent' to their diverse current roles as guardians of vast ancestral mansions, farmers, financiers and much else beside. She looks at key rites of passage, from cradle, via boarding school to grave. And she tells stories of their ups and downs, and of the doings of the heroes and villains who fill their ranks.

The result is a wonderfully rich, often amusing, always revealing account of the fortunes of the aristocracy over the past century and a series of fascinating glimpses into what it is like to be an aristocrat in Britain today.

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Doors: 6.30pm, event starts: 7pm, please arrive early to secure a good seat.

Tickets are £3 and there is a Ticket & Book option which includes a signed copy of Heirs & Graces by Eleanor Doughty.

The bookshop has level access, events are seated and speakers use microphones. If you have any concerns about accessibility, please do get in touch and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Refunds are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, we are unable to offer a refund after the event.

For more information or if you would like a signed copy because you can't make it to the event, please contact the Blackwell's events team on 0131 622 8222 or [email protected]

Host or Publisher Blackwell's Edinburgh South Bridge