Buy this book on-line

Nicolson, Adam : The Gentry: Stories of the English

HarperPress, London, 2011

ISBN 9780007335497

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. This book concentrates on fourteen families with a time span 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 18th century, to more modern examples, the book provides a chronological picture of the English, seen through these intimate, passionate, powerful stories of family saga. The families have been selected from all over the country and range from the famous to the unknown. Some families are divided by politics , such as the family that took different sides in the Reformation; others destroy their inheritance through reckless gambling or investments . All of them are vivid depictions of the life and code of the gentry, and have left deep archives of family papers which the author has been able to use, often for the very first time. 460p. notes index. Book. Book Condition: As New. Binding: Hardcover. Jacket: As New

1st UK Edition

NICOLSON,ADAM: : THE GENTRY:STORIES OF THE ENGLISH

LONDON.HARPER PRESS,2011.

ISBN 9780007335497.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,no price-clip (£25) to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean illustrated dw/dj,with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners,the laminate to upper and rear bd's lower,right-hand corners,have a tiny,tiny abrasion but still in situ - basically the only fault. Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight and pristine -no dog-ear creases to any pages' corners - an unread copy? Bright, clean,sharp-cornered, publisher's original,plain dark blue cloth bds with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate colour illustrated eps.8vo,ix-xxpp+3-460pp [paginated] includes intro,Pts I-VI comprising 13 chapters each with a b/w line illustration of the families home,a conclusion.Plus [unpaginated] half-title+ title pages,dedication - recto of which has a b/w map of Britain with families' locations and contents list/table. For centuries,gentry families were the bedrock of England,owning most of it, governing much of it and maintaining a steady relationship between manor and church,farm and village. They were the middle zone of English society and defined many of its core values.Neither the aristocratic rich above them nor the mass of people below,they were connected to and open to recruits from both.Land was at the herat of their story but it was not everything;grace, enterprise and chivalry were crucial to their idea of themselves. Adam Nicolson has discovered families from all over England and has traced their stories so that the reader feels they are living among them.Some give in to gambling and reckless extravagance,some - fall in love across a family dispute,some survive what seems an almost frontier existence while others,breaching their gentry code, end up by running major enterprises.Each family becomes known to us,each is a lesson in survival. 'The Gentry' traces the history of these people from the 15thC until today.It is a story of the English. One of the joys of the book is the intimacy with which their newly discovered stories are told,and with it the sense that through these mostly obscure lives we are coming somewhere near the heart of Englishness. Adam Nicolson,grandson of Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West,lives at Sissinghurst Castle,with his wife and family.He is the author of many books on history and the countryside.One of his recent books,'Sissinghurst',became a television series,presented by the author. Since April,2013,the UK Post Office has increased it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering its weight allowances, dimensions and lowered its compensation rates too! So, please contact seller,because of the weight/value of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.

Bibliophile Bookbase for antiquarian books, maps and prints.