Creole Gentlemen

The book explores the transformation of 460 wealthy men in colonial Maryland from a rugged merchant-planter class in the seventeenth century to a refined class of plantation owners by the eighteenth century. It innovatively compares these individuals to similar elites in the British Empire, such as absentee Caribbean landowners and East Indian nabobs, highlighting their roles within the broader Atlantic economic network. This examination provides insights into social and economic shifts during this period.