Before there was Elizabeth Holmes or Anna Delvey (or fictional grifter Tom Ripley), Cassie Chadwick was the mistress of reinvention. This true crime tale of the Gilded Age recounts how the woman American tabloids dubbed ‘Queen of Swindlers’ insinuated assumed identities (at one point claiming to be the illegitimate daughter of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, America’s first billionaire) to insinuate herself among the powerful and rich. If HBO showrunner Julian Fellowes is as clever as he thinks he is, she’ll turn up in an episode subplot of The Gilded Age.

Instead of anecdotes and well-worn histories, this revealing account of the British elite from the Victorian era to present day uses data-driven analysis. The pair’s research explores the long shadow that social class casts on people’s lives—opportunities, careers and lifestyles. The insight on the brief shift to (slightly) less privileged hereditary power in the more meritocratic 1980s is especially interesting, particularly for those who binged soapy drama Rivals n Disney+ this season. No wonder The Economist named it one of the best books of the year.

To follow up her acclaimed biography of socialite Bunny Mellon, the award-winning journalist and New York University professor offers a thorough bio of political hostess Perle Mesta, a crusading feminist (an ardent Equal Rights Amendment supporter) and United States envoy to Luxembourg. It tracks how the socialite became Washington’s most famous hostess and wielded power from the 1920s through the 1950s. (It makes a great double-bill with Sonia Purnell’s juicy Kingmaker, about diplomat and doyenne Pamela Harriman.)

It’s been assumed that Queen Victoria was a passive ruler when it came to actual politics. This book is a corrective, tracing the 19th century monarch’s relationship with each of the ten UK prime ministers who served her during her reign (only Queen Elizabeth II had more: fifteen). There are morsels about feuds and conflicts with Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone and others politicians, against the background of a period rife with major international upheaval.

The renowned jewellery expert shares inside stories of fabulous jewels owned and worn by generations of socialites, celebrities and royals (from Beyoncé and Marilyn Monroe to Elizabeth Taylor and Jackie O). It’s a fascinating read on the founding and evolution of family-run houses like Cartier as well as the backstories of British royal family gemstones depicted in The Crown.

The English social history professor’s survey of the English country house across the 20th century concludes has been working backwards toward its peak period. Downton Abbey devotees will recognize the phenomenon in his third and final instalment on leisure and the landed gentry’s daily (and often scandalous) lives in the period leading up to the Great War (after which the accepted hierarchies and peerage was forever changed). This is their final golden age: noble families and their stately homes, reconstructed.

To the endless rehashes of the life and influence of Wallis Simpson, later the Duchess of Windsor, comes this consideration of her brief 1920s China sojourn. Prior to meeting Edward, Prince of Wales (and that fateful encounter’s eventual role in altering the course of British royal history when he abdicated the throne so they could wed), she was the wife of U.S. Navy aviator Win Spencer. French offers details of her tumultuous ill-fated marriage and investigates the long-held rumours that she secretly worked as a courier for the Navy.

In the fall, I covered this book by Hicks: Lady Pamela Hicks, 95, the daughter of Lord Mountbatten (last Viceroy of India, Prince Philip’s uncle and King Charles’ mentor) and Queen Elizabeth II’s bridesmaid, lifelong friend and lady-in-waiting was married to celebrated interior designer David Hicks. In the book, their designer daughter India shares the art, homes and ephemera (including letters from the late Queen) of Lady P’s archive that form a fascinating glimpse into her mother’s remarkable life.