Rosalind K. Marshall

Extensivel researched (23p of notes), and primarily from primary sources, this is a joy to read. Obviously it deals primarily with aristocratic women, of whom there is more writen history, the author has tried to cover as wide a range of social condtions as possible. Working in four time periods (to 1560, 1560-1707, 1707-1830, 1830-1930), and thematically within those allows for better comparison of the scattered source material. This makes for a stronger narrative, and ultimately a more readable work.… (more)

A very interesting account of the daily life of a noble Scottish family in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Marshall for the most part achieves a very nice balance between the Hamilton family as an exemplar of a particular way of life and a particular social class in the early modern period, and as individual people. I would have liked slightly more quotations from the letters of the family, to bring them out slightly more as unique and separate people. Possibly also - and bear in mind that this is me saying this, so you know it must be required - slightly more of the economic history of the family. That said, this is still a great study of the period, and of the contemporary nobility's conception of their social roles and obligations.… (more)