Book description
Spanning the architectural history of the country house from the
disarming Elizabethan charm of South Wraxall, the classical rigour of
Kinross in Scotland, the majesty and ingenuity of Hawksmoor's Easton
Neston, the Palladian sweep of Wentworth Woodhouse, with over 300
rooms and frontage of 600 feet, the imperial exuberance of Clandeboye,
through to the ebullient vitality of Lutyens' Marshcourt, the stories
of these houses tell the story of our nation.
All are the are buildings of the greatest architectural interest,
each with a fascinating human story to tell, and all remain private
homes that are closed to the public. But their owners have opened
their doors and allowed Dan Cruickshank to roam the corridors and
rummage in the cellars as he teases out the story of each house - who
built them, the generations who lived in them, and the families who
lost them. Along the way he has uncovered tales of excess and
profligacy, tragedy, comedy, power and ambition.
And as these intriguing narratives take shape, Dan shows how the
story of each house is inseparable from the social and economic
history of Britain. Each one is built as a wave of economic
development crests, or crumbles. Each one's architecture and design is
thus expressive of the aims, strengths and frailties of those who
built them. Together they plot the psychological, economic and social
route map of our country's ruling class in a rich new telling of our
island story.
Dan Cruickshank is an architectural historian and television
presenter. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British
Architects, has served on the Executive Committee of the Georgian Group
and on the Architectural Panel of the National Trust. He has also been a
visiting professor in the Department of Architecture at the University
of Sheffield and was editor for the RIBA and the University of London of
the 20th edition of Sir Banister Fletcher's
A History of Architecture
. His recent work includes
The Secret History of Georgian London
and for BBC television the series and accompanying books
Around the
World in 80 Treasures
and
Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture
.
