5 for the pictures. Very evocative with giant heaps of symbolism that even the newcomers can translate. Like me.

3 for the text. Wow. It is not helpful to use constructs that the reader is unfamiliar with to explain another foreign concept. Granted, I'm not British so my ignorance here is somewhat explained. However, I'm not hopelessly simple. With a vivid determination I fought my way through the writing and found it bleak. There were notable exceptions where a narrative appeared and an "aha!" moment burst out from the gloom. For the majority, it read more like stereo instructions. Remember stereos?

My suggestion would be to keep this on hand as a lovely coffee table book or, the method I'm choosing, as a reference to be used after additional reading. When another author, documentarian or finger-painter manages to describe these unique offices in a way that doesn't leave me frustratingly confused or dangerously bored. Of course chances are that I will have blocked my failed reading experience by then. ( )

British offices of the obscure, arcane, strange, and unique. Those ropes and pickets on the chest of the Master of the Horse are the same as those on the Commander in Chief Naval Home Command. Why? To keep both horse and boat tethered to ground. ( )

I'm glad somebody took these photos before any more of these offices were abolished. ( )

An enjoyable coffee table book for anyone interested in British pageantry. Consists of short one page profiles of the various offices along with a creative photograph of the office holder(s), often with their ceremonial regalia.
A collection of internet links related to persons and organizations profiled in _Keepers of the Kingdom_: http://del.icio.us/Neitz/Keepers_of_the_Kingdom ( )