What really paid for the ballgowns, portraits and country estates of Georgian Britain? Historian Miranda Kaufmann peels back the polished veneer of Britain’s heiresses to reveal fortunes forged in Caribbean slavery. Beneath the elegance of marriage markets and inheritance battles lies a darker story of exploitation, empire and human resilience. Through the lives of powerful women, and the enslaved people whose labour underpinned their wealth, Kaufmann uncovers a tangled web of scandal, ambition and survival stretching from sugar plantations to stately homes. A gripping, necessary exploration of Britain’s imperial past and its enduring legacy.