Noble Ambitions

[A] preposterously entertaining history of the postwar country house… reading it is rather like leafing through an old leather-bound Smythson address book whose well-connected owner has helpfully added waspish notes, gossip and the odd family tree. In other words, it’s heaven. – Rachel Cooke * Observer *Adrian Tinniswood’s rollicking study perfectly captures the combination of decadence, pathos and brazen cheek that kept the English country house alive when it faced disaster. – John Walsh * Sunday Times *[A] brilliant new history of the country house since 1945… Tinniswood tells…[the] story superbly, his racy anecdotes mined not just from the usual memoirs, but from a studious trawl of endless local papers. – Marcus Binney * Daily Telegraph *Beautifully orchestrated… a compulsive read, deliciously voyeuristic and yet a triumph of meticulous social and cultural scholarship. * Country Life *A vastly entertaining account of the crisis that befell England’s stately homes in the decades immediately after the war. – Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year *Tinniswood…[is] an erudite historian of country-house life in all its anecdote-worthy vagaries. – Miranda Seymour * Financial Times *As this beautifully illustrated volume shows, the 1950s and the 1960s saw a renaissance as rock concerts replaced hunt balls and the doors of ancient family seats were thrown open to paying customers. Tinniswood chronicles it all in lively detail. – Nick Rennison * Daily Mail *By turns warm, sympathetic, sly and analytical, Tinniswood examines the complex history of the post-war country house with skill, grace, clarity - and charity. A triumph. – Judith FlandersTinniswood’s meticulously researched and entertaining study…provides a brilliant insight into a much overlooked period. Few authors can combine serious social history with the sometimes sad and often hilarious narratives of country-house life in the way that Tinniswood can. – Jeremy Musson[A] highly enjoyable, gossipy read with a gasp on every page; a must for the bedside tables of every guest bedroom, and every stately home gift shop. – Mary S. Lovell

Adrian Tinniswood is professorial research fellow in history at the University of Buckingham, adjunct professor of history at Maynooth University and the author of many books on British history, including the Sunday Times bestseller The Long Weekend. He was awarded an OBE for services to heritage, and lives in the west of Ireland.