To marry an English Lord

the long version

In 1895, nine American girls married peers of the British realm. It was the peak year of a social phenomenon that began when the entrenched members of old New York snubbed these "new money" families after the Civil War, sending them off to England in quest of class. MacColl presents a rich tapestry of essays, sidebars, fact-filled boxes, and lively anecdotes to chronicle the era respresnted by Downton Abbey and Upstairs, downstairs.