Sociability and Power in Late Stuart England: The Cultural Worlds of the Verneys 1660-1720 - Softcover

Whyman's stupendous research effot took her through more than 7,000 Verney letters, written over twenty-five years. Her new and exciting dimension is the London world of the youthful John Verney ... a fine study. (Anthony Fletcher, History Today)

Whyman combines Lawrence Stone's willingness to borrow from other disciplines ... with, say, Conrad Russell's deep understanding of particular archives ... rich detail and sound reasoning. (Newton E. Key, History)

Susan Whyman throws significant new light on the roles and achievements of younger sons of landed families, on many questions relating to gender, and on relationships between London and the provinces. (Barrie Trinder, S.H. Bulletin)

provides particularly valuable contributions to our understanding of social change in this period ... [Whyman] shows brilliantly how social lives, cultural values, and personal networks were affected by the growing importance of London. (Professor Ann Hughes, University of Keele)

Whyman's work is built upon impressive foundations. She has meticulously examined over seven thousand letters in the Verney archive, and constructed a formindable database ... We learn a great many things from Whyman's book ... Whyman breaks new ground, as in her discussion of the significant role women played as social and political mentors of their menfolk ... Susan Whyman's superb study reveals a great deal about gentry life and should be read by anyone with an interest in England's transformation to modernity. (Victor Stater, Louisiana State University, H-Net Reviews)

This highly original study looks at rituals of sociability in new and creative ways. Based upon thousands of personal letters, it reconstructs the changing country and London worlds of an English gentry family, and reveals intimate details about the social and cultural life of the period. Challenging current influential views, the book observes strong connections, instead of deep divisions, between country and city, land and trade, sociability and power. Its very different view undermines established stereotypes of omnipotent male patriarchs, powerless wives and kin, autonomous elder sons, and dependent younger brothers. Gifts of venison and visits in a coach reveal unexpected findings about the subtle power of women over the social code, the importance of younger sons, and the overwhelming impact of London. Successfully combining storytelling and historical analysis, the book recreates everyday lives in a period of overseas expansion, financial revolution, and political turmoil.