Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know is a tongue in cheek tour through the terrible deeds of our so-called superiors that will still make you want to kick the door in of every last aristocrat in the land to give them a proper shoeing.
Shaw takes us through some of the eccentrics, the gamblers, the rakes, the soldiers, the imbeciles and the many, many rapists and murderers that have made up our ‘betters’ – Byron, whom the title refers to, is by far and way one of the least actively harmful to others inside as he’s greatly outnumbered by the sheer number of outright murderous scum to whom the law has never applied. There’s always been one rule for them and another for the rest of us, but it seems that even hunting your local peasants, raping everyone you meet and cooking and eating servants is totally acceptable as long as your blood is blue. Consequences? Ha! That’s only ever been for the likes of plebs like you and me.
To really help kick my rage up a notch, it’s also a fun game to count how many of these family names still hold power in various spheres in the UK today, as well as being reminded me how laughable the idea is that the Royal Family will ever cooperate in making Prince Andrew face the music – and as a nation of bootlickers how unlikely we are to ever demand it.
If you’re not British, read this and laugh at how lucky you are not to have to kowtow to people like these (although there’s a sprinkling of Europeans inside, I’m sure wherever you are you have your own special brand of assholes in charge). If you’re British, read it and burn with a fury that could power the sun.