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Thius book describes the rise, and fall, of the Souls, an elite groups that flourished in England from the 1880s until the First World War. Its members included Arthur Balfour, George Curzon, Willy Grenfell, George Wyndham, Alfred Lyttelton, Harry Cust and Hug, Lord Elcho. Some of its most influential members were women: Margot Asquith and the Tennant sisters, Ettie Grenfell, Lady Elcho and the Duchess of Rutland. The Souls adorned and scandalized society, cultivating an enjoyment of books, games, leisure and hsopitality in London and on country-house weekends. Above all they enjoyed each other. Unconventional and high spirited, they brough elegance, wit and exuberance of sentiment to all the engaged in, from the creation of thei own special language to their endless flirtations and complicated love affairs. The arrival of World War I say many of them off to fight for England and many died. The frivolity of their earlier lives was over.--From the dust jacket.… (more)
User reviews
It's an interesting book in two ways: it follows a group of people, and their children, and describes how they grew apart, or closer, as the years went by, and what happened to them all. In that way it's just a fascinating, gossipy read.
Its real strength is its descriptions of World War I and what it did to these people. Of course all the children of the first generation were young when war was declaredm, and they all enlisted, as did some who were older. Lambert points out how the percentage of deaths among the upper class was much higher than for the lower, in part because they were so much more fit. A large percentage of lower class youths weren't eligible for service because poor nutrition meant they were in poor health, or were too short or underweight to enter the Army or Navy. The sons of the families we've been following in the earlier chapters all became officers, and most of them were killed. As the war dragged on, the young men came to see it was futile, and that their own fathers and friends of their parents were the ones prolonging the horror. The author says "Much of what I have written in the final chapters of the book was inspired by the tone of voice in which [Lady Diana Cooper] said "They all died, you see." To live through a war in which nearly all the young men you grew up with, some of whom you might have married, are killed... devastating.
The book doesn't mention Stephen Tennant, English dandy and eccentric, son of Sir Charles Tennant, and Margot's nephew. Unfortunately, as he was quite a colorful character, but he has his own biograpy. Thanks to David Bratman on LiveJournal I learned that Stella Tennant, the model, is "Stephen's grand-niece, and Margot's great-grand-niece, as well as the grand-daughter of the last of the Mitford sisters. And you know that Anthony Asquith was Margot's son. And Helena Bonham Carter is her step-daughter's grand-daughter."
Basic historical facts seem mostly okay (although at one point she claims that 1911 was in Edward VII's reign). It is with respect to the monarchy that the author's other major bias is to the fore; Queen Victoria gets off relatively lightly but Edward VII and George V are utterly condemned (albeit for opposing reasons), apparently to make those who are the author's subject matter shine more brightly.