Quite thrilling. Given me by my sister, it sat only shelf for quite a while, as I thought it might be a bit low-key. Really a history of England itself from a particular angle. Packed with personal portraits, power struggles, economic booms and busts, heroes, villains, nostalgia and fine turns of prose. Interesting point that the aristocracy have survived the 20th century's disasters (including democracy!) and still own most of England (the Duke of Westminster who always gets mentioned doesn't appear on Nicolson's list) but the gentry have almost disappeared, while the yeoman farmer has come up. A real case of the squeezed middle. ( )

https://braemarbookbites.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/gentry/ ( )

(22 Nov 2012)

A spectacular and amazing book that did not deserve to be in the remaindered bookshop. What were people thinking, not buying this? I see that there is a paperback edition now, but I’m glad that I’ve got the hardback, as it’s definitely one to keep.

Nicolson takes the stories of various gentry families (the gentry being defined, loosely, as the squire and MP class, below the aristocrats with their safe money, just above but dipping into the professional class, and clinging to this often precarious position) that have been active during various times from the 1410s to the present day and uses a combination of meticulous research, beautiful writing and the ability to tell a jolly good story to bring their lives, relationships and concerns vividly to life, capturing small details and personal testimonies and seeming to revel in the process himself.

Some of the 17th century stories were told in his TV series, “The Century that Wrote Itself”, but it’s so nice to have them written down on paper, although with fewer images, obviously (more of these can be found on the book’s website), and without Nicolson’s energetic stile-leaping and bicycle riding. That took a slightly different angle: while the written documents are still highlighted as an amazing source of information, perfectly preserved in all its details, the families are placed much more within their context and social history. The book as a whole is moving, honest, not extrapolating past the sources into “must have felt” this and “should have done that”, and letting the voices of the subject shine through – the best kind of history writing, in my opinion. Flexible like the families about notions of gentry, but also looking at how that term has been defined over the centuries. It brings us right up to date in the last chapters, skillfully weaving the experiences of the modern-day gentry into their context and history. Magnificent.

There is a good website to back up the book and provide more information on its contents – what a good idea! ( )