9780465048984 (hardback)

0465048986 (hardback)

9780465098651 (ebook)

0465098657

9780465098651

"In The Long Weekend, acclaimed historian Adrian Tinniswood tells the story of the rise and fall of the English aristocracy through the rise and fall of the great country house. Historically, these massive houses had served as the administrative and social hubs of their communities, but the fallout from World War I had wrought seismic changes on the demographics of the English countryside. In addition to the vast loss of life among the landed class, those staffers who returned to the country estates from the European theater were often horribly maimed, or eager to pursue a life beyond their employers' grounds. New and old estateholders alike clung ever more desperately to the traditions of country living, even as the means to maintain them slipped away"-- Provided by publisher.

"Drawing on thousands of memoirs, unpublished letters and diaries, and the eye-witness testimonies of belted earls and bibulous butlers, historian Adrian Tinniswood brings the stately homes of England to life as never before, opening the door onto a world half-remembered, glamorous, shameful at times, and forever wrapped in myth. The Long Weekend revels in the sheer variety of country house life: from King George V poring over his stamp collection at Sandringham to fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley collecting mistresses at ancestral homes across the nation, from Edward VIII entertaining Wallis Simpson at Fort Belvedere to the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim, whose wife became obsessed with her pet spaniels. Tinniswood reveals what it was really like to live and work in some of the most beautiful houses the world has ever seen during the last great golden age of the English country home"-- Provided by publisher.

Foreword

The House Party

Everyone Sang

It Is Ours

The King's Houses

Reinstatement

A New Culture

Lutyens

Making Plans

Home Decorating

The New Georgians

The Princess Bride and her Brothers

My New-Found-Land, My Kingdom

A Queer Streak

Field Sports

In Which We Serve

The Political House

The Old Order Doomed.

1900 > 1999

Country homes > England > History > 20th century.

Mansions > England > History > 20th century.

Country life > England > History > 20th century.

Aristocracy (Social class) > England > History > 20th century.

Aristocracy (Social class) > England > Biography.

Landowners > England > History > 20th century.

Social change > England > History > 20th century.

England > Social life and customs > 20th century.

England > Social conditions > 20th century.