Frivolous elites

03 Oct 1994 12:01

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Ancien regime, Tsarist Russia and indeed European nobility as a whole at WWI, Heian Japan, Warring States China: typical traits; relations to servants; comparison with contemporary national elites.

See:
• Eric Alterman, Sound and Fury: The Washington Punditocracy and the Collapse of American Politics
• Lewis Lapham, The Wish for Kings
• Ivan Morris, The World of the Shining Prince

To read:
• David Cannadine, The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy
• Emerson, Anatomy of Rebellion
• Lasch, The Revolt of the Elites
• Kevin Phillips
  • American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush
  • Arrogant Capital
  • Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich