British "non-élite" MPs, 1715-1820

In the eighteenth century the considerable degree of social mobility in British society, especially between the upper and middling ranks, was arguably one of the important factors contributing to political and social stability. The extent of that mobility among the members of the nation's legislature was particularly important in this regard. In the first detailed analysis of its kind, Ian R. Christie examines how far the House of Commons reflected and was itself affected by such social mobility. Enquiry is directed at the growth in number of `non-élite' members of parliament; men without land. This is a fascinating study which every historian of 18th-century Britain will want to read.