Land ownership and social change in late nineteenth century Britain

British society and social structure are obvious culprits in Britain's slide from late Victorian world pre-eminence.2 The continuity and apparent cohesion of monarchy, aristocracy, 'public' schools, Oxford and Cambridge, and state religion are unprecedented in a European context. Their supposed rigidity or stifling values are a natural candidate for blame. However, attempts to raise the discussion to a scientific plane have typically foundered on a lack of quantitative data and of compelling tests of hypotheses.