The Middle Class

James is a well-informed guide to the past, conducting us on a tour from Chaucer to Thatcher. He has a sharp eye for detail

A rollicking, affectionate romp through seven centuries that provokes much thought... well written and an enjoyable read

Those who buy this book will find something to intrigue them on almost every page

Gripping and illuminating... a celebration which is hugely overdue

An enchanting compendium of the games the English play, and the anxieties, frictions and resentments engendered in the pursuit of status

[A] magisterial, sweeping new history of the middle class in Britain . . . Amirable

A magisterial, sweeping new history... Its strength lies not so much in its generalisations and conclusions as in its welter of colourful detail and insidious anecdote, mostly apposite

Scholarly yet entertaining

James is a well-informed guide to that past, conducting us on a tour from Chaucer to Thatcher... He has a sharp eye for detail

Full of fascinating quotations and figures

Readable and full of fascinating quotations and figures

Wonderful... one of those volumes which should be buried in a time-capsule for the benefit of future civilisations

Those who buy this book will find something to intrigue them on almost every page

Our editor's favourite book of the season. Unputdownable