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Duke Hamilton Is Dead!: A Story of Aristocratic Life and Death in Stuart Britain

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Victor Stater, the author of "Duke Hamilton is Dead," writes with a peppy affection for his subject, which is ostensibly, the legal calumnies of two peers of the realm, fighting it out over a hefty inheritence. But Mr. Stater goes beyond the legal intricacies by throwing in a wealth of rich social and anecedotal material about a period in British history that has always seemed a bit tame -- the later years of the Stuart dynasty. With merry Charles II gone, and his Catholic brother James II forced off the throne, the late 17th and early 18th century Britons were ruled by the rather dull William and Mary, and then Mary's unfortunate sister Anne (who bore over a dozen children, only one of whom survived, and that one, a severally handicapped child, died at 11). Mr. Stater makes this era come alive through the framework of the contentiousness of the Earl of Mohun and the Duke of Hamilton, both striving for political power, both intriguers and both dead set on paying for their political ambitions with a disputed inheritence. All in all, a lively look at the period with a wealth of juicy details. But the foremost lesson to be learned here is that, whether it be 1700 or 2000, politics is still a game reserved for the very wealthy.

This is a great story of a decades long feud that spans (and influences) events such as the Golden Revolution, the Union of Scotland and England and the Restoration. Using the conflict between Baron Mohun and Duke Hamilton as a base, the author explores the changing nature of the aristocratic lifestyle and the British social stucture. The political infighting between Tories and Whigs in the larger international context was particularly fascinating. While the narrative flow is generally solid, I was lost for a bit in the second chapter that covers the history of a property at the center of the feud. In addition, the numerous names an aristocrat could use made for some confusion. That being said, the book is overall readable and quite entertaining.