The House of Lords: From Saxon Wargods to a Modern Senate

by J.C. Wells

"A brilliantly informative and hilarious history of [Britain's] House of Lords. A highly enjoyable book." The Guardian "Enormous fun to read. Marvelously vivid and amusing." The Sunday Times, London "Wells catches brilliantly the fustiness, pomposity, and yet curious distinction of this bizarre anachronism." The Daily Telegraph

Genres: History, Politics

309 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Christopher Wells is a British phonetician and Esperanto teacher. Until 2006 he held the departmental chair in phonetics at the University College London.

Reviews

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic read, filled with the beginnings of a misty-eyed nostalgia for the Lords before it disappeared forever ... no one foresaw it still rocking on, changed but not by much, twenty years on.

One wonders what Mr Wells would've made of hereditary by-elections, the absence of Scottish Nationalists, the increasing percentage of women (especially in the top jobs) and the 'housekeeping' amendments to House processes, such as the introduction of retirement.

[Jane Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's 15 years old, but John Wells' account of the House of Lords is once again topical. He explains the history while describing the people and processes in 1997. His wit doesn't get in the way. A really good read. (The title is just "The House of Lords".)

[Merry Farmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly fascinating! For this student of history, Wells made a lot of the weirdness of British government suddenly make sense.