I was rather excited to see a new book from Adrian Tinniswood pop on NetGalley. I really enjoyed his book, Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household– it takes what can be a very dry and monotonous subject and brings it to life. The English country house has only become more popular in the last decade with the popularity of shows like Downton Abbey and the adaptation of The Pursuit of Love, but there seems to be a gap between those periods popular on the screen and what we know of these houses now. Well, Noble Ambitions tackles that exact quandary and takes us through the recent history of these impressive seats!
*Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review; I also purchased the audiobook from Kobo.
Noble Ambitions: The Fall and Rise of the English Country House After World War II, Adrian Tinniswood
As the sun set slowly on the British Empire, its mansions fell and rose. Ancient families were reduced to demolishing the parts of their stately homes they could no longer afford, dukes and duchesses desperately clung to their ancestral seats, and a new class of homeowners bought their way into country life. A delicious romp, Noble Ambitions pulls us into these crumbling halls of power, leading us through the juiciest bits of postwar aristocratic history—from Mick Jagger dancing at deb balls to the scandals of Princess Margaret. Capturing the spirit of the age, historian Adrian Tinniswood proves that the country house is not only an iconic symbol, but a lens through which to understand the shifting fortunes of the British elite in an era of monumental social change.
Why You Should Read This…
There is something about the idea of inheriting a massive family estate with a palace-sized home that seems incredibly romantic… until you start to think about death duties, refurbishment and repairs, taxes, and so on. English country homes are having a bit of a resurgence in the 20th century- so many remaining homes are open to the public, either through the National Trust or open privately, and they are incredibly popular tourist destinations. Whenever the history of these homes is covered, it tends to stop with the Second World War, sometimes earlier. However, Tinniswood begings with WWII, and takes us through to the present!
We get a peek into what refurbishing and redecorating a stately home looks like and the different organisations that are often involved (like the National Trust) He delves into when and how a family decides to sell part or all of an estate- always a complex decision that gets reduced in the retelling. And my favourite- the behind the scenes stories of those balls and parties that feature in shows like The Crown!
One of the highlights for me was absolutely the Irish coverage. As someone who has studied both early and modern Irish history, Ireland tends to sit in limbo as “not quite English”. However, there were/are many Irish country houses! And while much of their history is similar to their English cousins, they have their own history, and I appreciated that Tinniswood specifically covered them.
The audiobook narrator, Roger May, is also fantastic. He has the gravitas that you think a book about grand country estates needs but then also brings in a lot of humour and levity.
Do you have your copy of Noble Ambitions?
Cheers,
The Historian
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
