Pilgrims Society and Public Diplomacy, 1895-1945

Citation

Bowman S (2018) Pilgrims Society and Public Diplomacy, 1895-1945. Edinburgh Studies in Anglo-American Relations. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-pilgrims-society-and-public-diplomacy-1895-1945.html

Abstract
Labelled by an Irish-American newspaper in 1906 as a ‘nondescript aggregation of degenerate Americans, Britishers and Jews’, the Pilgrims Society has long excited the imaginations of conspiracy theorists. Founded in London in 1902, this upper-class dining club acted to bring Britain and the USA closer together in political, diplomatic and cultural terms. Drawing on rich archival research, this book explores how this elite network – whose members included J. P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie – attempted to influence the Anglo-American relationship in the days before it became ‘special’.