In 1791 Great Britain faced the task of establishing diplomatic relations with its rebellious former colony, the United States. "Tories and Democrats" follows nine successive British emissaries to the fledgling nation from the years 1791 through 1823. In animated prose, William Masterson takes readers along on the diplomats' assignments, showing the acumen or blundering, the ease or annoyance with which they carried out their instructions in the peripatetic American capital, the one on the Potomac being considered particularly devoid of the physical necessities of life.
Masterson's research into sources never before consulted, especially on the eastern side of the Atlantic, uncovers personal factors that may have affected the early political relations between the two countries. Excerpts of letters disclose the ambitions, domestic battles, and fashion consciousness of the striped-pants set through wars, dress balls, and torrid American summers.