Noblesse Oblige (book)

Noblesse Oblige

First edition (UK)
Editor	Nancy Mitford (credited)[a]
Language	English
Subject	Linguistic
Genre	Essays
Published	1956 Hamish Hamilton (UK)
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	114

Noblesse Oblige: An Enquiry Into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy (1956) is a book illustrated by Osbert Lancaster, caricaturist of English manners, and published by Hamish Hamilton. The anthology comprises four brief essays by Nancy Mitford, Alan S. C. Ross, "Strix" and Christopher Sykes, a letter by Evelyn Waugh, and a poem by John Betjeman.

Until Nancy Mitford wrote "The English Aristocracy" in an article published in 1955, England was blissfully unconscious of 'U' ('Upperclass') usage. Her article sparked off a public debate, whose counterblasts are collected in this book, published one year later.^[1] Although the subtitle rather dryly suggests it as an enquiry into the identifying characteristics of members of the English upper-class, it is really more of a debate, with each essayist entertaining and convincing.

Mitford was credited incorrectly as the editor of the book, though she was merely one of its contributors.^[a]

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