An absorbing read. An excellent account of the life of the rich in contrast with the poor set in Yorkshire centered on the wealthy Fitzwilliam family. Starting before the first World War it traces the family history, it's ups and downs, good and bad. Black diamonds refers to coal which is the source of the families fortune. The book give a fascinating insight into the life lived behind the social front. Also the plight of the poor, especially the miners. The author's research has brought to life a series of family members. Excellent. ( )

A look at the history of coal mining and the downfall of the Fitzwilliam family. This book is definitely more about the former than the latter. Of course, the Fitzwilliams are woven into this tapestry of superb storytelling. For me, the most interesting part of the book was Peter, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam. He seemed to invigorate the story where it needed it most. His romance with Kathleen Kennedy, sister of the late President of the USA, was tragic and heartbreaking. The sections about coal and the lives led by the coal miners seemed to drag on.

Still, an interesting look for those who love to read about the titled British families. ( )

Black Diamonds is the story of the Earls Fitzwilliam and their family, who built a fortune on the backs of South Yorkshire coal miners and then watched it all fall to ruin. The family thrived on secrets and their love of secrecy (combined with a tradition of inter-generational hatred) proved to be their undoing. If you want to read about a group of questionable people living the high life while doing sordid things behind the scenes, but in a classy way, this book is for you. If you like it when the little man gets his say, this book is for you. There's even a healthy dose of Kennedy family conspiracies (anyone who thinks the rot in the Catholic Church set in after Vatican II needs to read the part where Kathleen goes bishop-shopping). Overall, I think I liked The Secret Rooms better, but that was one of the best books I read that year, so this one is still quite good.

For those who like their histories British and their revenge served coaled. Highly recommended. ( )

I don't think I have ever learned so much about so many different aspects of English social history from one book before! Ostensibly about Wentworth Woodhouse, a magnificent 300-room country house near Rotherham, and the Earls of Fitzwilliam who lived there for two hundred and fifty years, Catherine Bailey also manages to include scandal, mining, two World Wars and the Kennedys in her riveting history.

I was also torn between two opposing factions while reading - sympathy for the South Yorkshire miners, who worked in dangerous, inhuman conditions for a pittance while the 'mineral owners' reaped billions for nothing more than inheriting land, and heart-rending horror over the final fate of such a beautiful house and grounds (I was wishing that 'Manny' Shinwell suffered for his spiteful crime, but the miserable old bugger lived to 101!) Yes, the pre-war imbalance of power and wealth was revolting - although I don't think we have advanced all that much - but destroying such an immense site of local and historic worth out of bitter envy was hardly the answer. I am so glad that Wentworth survived both family and foes to grace the landscape today - and the house is finally open to visitors! Yay!

Back to the book, Catherine Bailey's account of the Fitzwilliams - who destroyed over sixteen tons of family papers to hide a murky family secret - and the local history surrounding Wentworth is both fascinating and and engaging. Nothing is superfluous, from the life of 'Kick' Kennedy who died in mysterious circumstances with Peter Fitzwilliam to the Sankey Commission of 1919 and the first attempt to nationalise mining, and every last detail is worth knowing. Yes, I spent a whole week just on this one book, but I don't begrudge a single second! ( )

Catherine Bailey's done it again. I loved her earlier book, The Secret Rooms, and this new one, Black Diamonds (Penguin), is just as good. Bailey's subject this time is another aristocratic English family and their home (the Earls Fitzwilliam and Wentworth House), but unlike her previous book, this time she's not faced with a surfeit of family records, but rather a severe shortage of them, since the Fitzwilliams have consciously destroyed many of their own papers and records. And not without cause, it would seem: Bailey chronicles the astounding family dramas of the Fitzwilliam clan, and if you think "Downton Abbey" has gotten soapy, those folks have nothing on this crowd! It's almost unbelievable to think that all the things Bailey recounts could possibly all have happened to the same family over just a few generations, and naturally it all makes for riveting reading.

Even as the family members treated each other pretty terribly, though, Bailey makes clear their quite enlightened attitudes toward their leaseholders and those who worked in the coal mines owned by the estate. I'm sure I won't be the only one pleasantly surprised at this.

I do wish that Bailey had gone into a bit more depth about the rise of the Fitzwilliam family, and also that she had spent some more time on the later period, which feels just a bit rushed. But this is a fantastic read and I recommend it very highly. ( )