The author of "The Fitzrovians" examines the fortunes of the English gentleman from the end of the 19th century to the present. Starting on the playing fields of Eton, he reveals the true origins of our modern idea of a gentleman and comments on how the gentleman has fared since his heyday in the Edwardian summer. From Lord Curzon and the "souls" to C.B. Fry and from Oswald Mosley to Guy Burgess, by turns glamourous, moving and startling, Hugh David unravels the story of a breed whose code of behaviour is recognized throughout the world as being that of the English gentleman.