The Legacy: A Memoir - One family's role in Britain's cover-ups

Jean Barr opens the antique chest she inherited from her great-great-uncle Alexander and unravels the strands of his life as an evangelical Presbyterian minister in late nineteenth century Italy, unpacking the cover-ups in Britain-s history of Empire, and bringing to light the ingenious but ordinary ways in which a handful of families, even today, continue to shore up their wealth.

She uncovers a series of marriages that placed Alexander within shouting distance of a network of powerful families stretching over generations, families whose staying power has been rooted in hoarding and passing on land and capital. This is the backdrop to Alexander-s extraordinary life. It enabled him to flourish in Italy and, in his final years, to become a cheerleader for a dictator.

The Legacy: A Memoir is a telling of family history as world history.