Martyn Downer had the task of selling at Sotheby’s the Victoria Cross awarded to his great-great-grandfather-in-law for gallantry in the Crimea. This led him to inquire about this ancestor, and so to a fine book. It throws sharp new rays of light on the late Victorian court, of which Major-General Sir Howard Elphinstone, VC, KCB, CMG â” formerly Captain Elphinstone, VC, RE â” was one of the crucial members. Courts are now hopelessly out of political fashion, though they continue to fascinate both the news media and the public â” not only in monarchies. In the late 19th century, world politics still revolved round them, so they are bound to interest historians.

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