Detailed picture of the British propertied class, from the wealth & security of the mid-Victorian era through Edwardian high-noon to a post-WW I world of change, strikes & social malaise. By showing the Forsytes in all their strengths & weaknesses against a detailed background of English life - Parliament, the Courts, the City, sports, philanthropy, art, wars - Galsworthy has made THE WHITE MONKEY & the other volumes in THE FORSYTE SAGA valuable social history as well as great fiction.