Any recommendations of books about the British Aristocracy?

[CrosswordAddict]

I have just read "Elizabeth and Philip" by Gyles Brandreth and really enjoyed it.
Have always been interested in the landed gentry and who is married to whom. Just not sure where to start really.

Hi CrosswordAddict I don't, apologies but I'm going to sit here and wait to see if anyone else has. I'm also interested in this :)

PamBeesly Yes, well, I was brought up in a village which was "owned" by a famous family (Gladstones) and now live near the estate of another famouse family (Westminsters) so I am sort of surrounded by it. Also DH's hobby is Family History so I am already hooked I'm afraid.

I'm Irish and have no excuse except a real enthusiasm for British history (strange I guess) A village owned by a family?!

If you want to start with the historical side, Aristocrats explains who was married to whom and who went to bed with or bankrupted whom in the 18th century and you'll still find quite a lot of those names in Tatler (and of course there was a huge Irish connection - some of them building huge houses, some going off abroad trying to build revolution). For connections, the letters between a) Deborah Dowager Duchess of Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor and b) herself again and her sisters are both amusing, well referenced and explain a lot of the background. I also recall reading a book called, I think, The Edwardians, which explained which Soul and which Apostle bedded which and was very readable but also forgettable - hence I can't recall title or author!

PamB - yes, lots of villages still owned by "the family". remarkable

The Viceroy's Daughters (I forget the author) was v good about the Curzon sisters - one of whom married Mosley.

Anything by Evelyn Waugh or Nancy Mitford

Aristocrats is great. All the females in my family lapped it up. The men were, I suspect, put off by the cover.

Admitedly it's fiction, but if people are going to recommend the Mitfords then 'Bad Behaviour' by Molly Keane is an evil Irish twin.

My recommends would be

David Cannadine - The Rise and Fall of the British Aristocracy - off-puttingly weighty but both definitive and utterly brilliant, as well as accessibly written.

A N Wilson - The fall of the House of Windsor is fun if you can track down a copy but it may be out of print now.

Robert Sackville West's Inheritance is a wonderfully entertaining read.

Also loved Aristocrats!

England's Mistress by Kate Williams