Disclosure : This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.

Gentry

Adam Nicolson tells the story of England through the history of fourteen gentry families – from the 15th century to the present day. This sparkling work of history reads like a real-life Downton Abbey, as the loves, hatreds and many times of grief of his chosen cast illuminate the grand events of history. We may well be `a nation of shopkeepers`, but for generations England was a country dominated by its middling families, rooted on their land, in their locality, with a healthy interest in turning a profit from their property and a deep distrust of the centralised state. The virtues we may all believe to be part of the English culture – honesty, affability, courtesy, liberality – each of these has their source in gentry life cultivated over five hundred years. These folk were the backbone of England. Adam Nicolson`s riveting new book concentrates on fourteen families, from 1400 to the present day. From the medieval gung-ho of the Plumpton family to the high-seas adventures of the Lascelles in the eighteenth century, to more modern examples, the book provides a chronological picture of the English, seen through these intimate, passionate, powerful stories of family saga.Drawing on a wealth of unpublished archive material, here is a vivid depiction of the life and code of the gentry. `The Gentry` is first and foremost a wonderful sweep of English history, shedding light on the creation of the distinctive English character but with the sheer readability of an epic novel.

Related Products:

Sissinghurst The Sea is Not Made of Water: Life Between the Tides London: Daniel Paterson`s 24 Miles Round London with Seats of Gentry and Nobility c.1791 MEDIUM London: Daniel Paterson`s 24 Miles Round London with Seats of Gentry and Nobility c.1791 SMALL Holkham: The Social, Architectural and Landscape History of a Great English Country House Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival A History of Italy A Short History of Europe: From Pericles to Putin The Apartment: A Century of Russian History Robert Adam: Country House Design, Decoration, and the Art of Elegance Great Houses, Modern Aristocrats The Covent Garden Ladies: the book that inspired BBC2`s `Harlots` Sea Room Traveller`s History of England Ezra Stoller: A Photographic History of Modern American Architecture How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness Howards End Wanderers: A History of Women Walking English History: People, places and events that built a country (Collins Little Books) Smell of Summer Grass: Pursuing Happiness at Perch Hill Clifton : History You Can See History of English Food A History of the World Default ThumbnailA History of Woking Glasgow Modern Prague Map: Mapa Moderni Prahy: 20th century architecture guide map Radical Enlightenment The English and Their History Concise History of the Baltic States A History of England in 100 Places: Irreplaceable Age of Anger: A History of the Present Palaeography for Family and Local Historians Follies The Cold War: A New Oral History of Life Between East and West Mr Foote`s Other Leg Northern English: A Social and Cultural History The History Of England`s Cathedrals England -Concise History Maps of London and Beyond Penguin Illustrated History of Britain and Ireland