The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook: The First Guide to What Really Matters in Life

Dust jacket notes: "Ann Barr's and Peter York's light touch conceals what is basically the first examination of British upper-class mores, attitudes and dress codes. In an area skimmed by a succession of etiquette books ranging from the frivolous to the pompous, this is the first book to look below the surface of a life that is going stronger than ever. Sloane Rangers conform to an ancient and coherent system of behaviour, somewhat resembling that of the Japanese samurai. Like the samurai they preserve a mediaeval framework largely intact. But unlike them, the Sloane Rangers' roots have, until now, been hidden. Here they are, revealed in all their strength and quirkiness. Much of what Sloanes do is quaintly useless, xenophobic and snobbish, but the core is human and sound. The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook 'defines', in the words of Peter York, 'a unique set of mental attitudes that acquire extra fascination in a computer world.' Peter York is not a Sloane Ranger."