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Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the setting for Julian Fellowesâ??s Emmy Award-winning PBS show Downton Abbey, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants, Catherine Wendell. In this transporting companion piece to the New York Times bestseller Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, Catherine, a beautiful and spirited American woman who married Lady Alminaâ??s son, the man who would become the 6th Earl of Carnarvon, presides over the grand estate during a tumultuous time for the British aristocracy. Following the First World War, many of the great houses of England faded as their owners fortunes declined in the new political and social world of the 1920s and 1930s. As war loomed, Highclereâ??s survival as the family home of the Carnarvons was again in the balanceâ??as was peace between the nations of Eu… (más)
Taphophile13: Almina Wombwell and Catherine Wendell both married into the Herbert family and each in turn became Countess of Carnarvon and mistress of Highclere Castle.
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Quite interesting, especially in the light of having just read [b:The Visitors|18362312|The Visitors|Sally Beauman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1377285696s/18362312.jpg|25963800] and spent a little time with the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, father of this one. Another contributing factor in my enjoyment was my passion for Downton Abbey. I was fascinated by how many of the plot twists in that story were ripped right from the true experiences of these people and their magnificent estate.
The book is historically accurate in every detail that I could personally verify. Lady Carnarvon had access to all the historical records and artifacts of the home and that must have helped tremendously in fleshing out these people and detailing life at Highclere. There are all the usual spottings of the rich and famous, coming and going at Highclere, particularly during World War II, but there is also enough beneath the surface revelation on Lady Catherine and the Earl to make them seem individual and not stereotypes.
Really enjoyable book — manages to cover biographies for several people in a complex time with clarity and great flow. Source materials are seamlessly integrated. I recommend this also as a compact synopsis of the Second World War — covers it thoroughly, while centering personal recollections, which just brings the history home. Audio book well narrated, too — hard to put down. ( )
The current Countess of Carnarvon writes a history, somewhat focused on the life of Catherine, the (first) wife of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, from 1920-1945. However, reading between the lines Catherine was mildly introverted and private leaving only limited records of her life and so ultimately the book is as much as about the Earl, their children, and occasionally their extended family as well as the staff at Highclere Castle. Into the second half of the book there's also a fair amount of general WWII history, useful as context for the events going on in the lives of the individuals the book is following but perhaps a bit more robust than needed. The slightly meandering focus aside, the book is well written as a popular history and the historical photos included are worth the price of admission. Not a read for the serious historian but for the fan of Downton Abbey who this book is truly aimed at, it's a pretty decent read. ( )
This books gives excellent and crucial info on this time period, home and ancestors alive at this time. It's just extremely dry and not enough on what I was intetested in and too much focus on name dropping. ( )
I couldn't get into this book about the English aristocracy which has been so popularized by Downton Abbey. It is that that piqued my interest. I am interested in the English aristocracy as there are some great stories about them and their palaces but this doesn't happen to be one of them. It doesn't mean this book is without merit. It just didn't turn me on. ( )
This book describes the lives of the family who lived at Highclere Castle from 1923 to 1945, in particular the beautiful Anglo-American Catherine Wendell and the man she married, who became the 6th Earl of Carnarvon. Like its predecessor, about Almina the 5th Countess of Carnarvon, it is intended more as a narrative of the time than a work of history. Nonetheless, it is the product of many months of research in the Castle's archives as well as conversation with those surviving family members who knew the people involved. It is based on diaries, memoirs, letters, household accounts and photographs, the guestbook that records those who came to stay and the recollections of those who worked here.
I India, March 1923
It was a stifling afternoon at the Wheeler Polo Club in Meerut, northern India. The waves of heat still distorted the view over the five first-class polo grounds, but Catherine was much relieved that the most oppressive part of the day was over. She was sitting on a white-canopied dais with the Viceroy, Lord Reading, and Lord Inchcape, the charman of the P&O line, their wives, Lady Reading and Lady Inchcape, and some other firends. Behind them, on the long, whitewashed verandahs, several hundred of the team members' families and guests were watching the afternoon's match.
As Almina had discovered before her, countesses come and go from Highclere, always having to make room for the next generation, or the next wife. (p. 160)
Tomorrow there would be time to plan for the future; tonight, all anyone could think of was that the long years of stoicism and anxiety were over. Churchill's rallying cry at the end of his announcement of victory echoed in everyone's ears, 'Long live the cause of freedom!' Freedom would be toasted and cherished long into the night, from London to Highclere and all over the world.
Epilogue Through a combination of determination, dedication, and sheer love, Highclere Castle still stands today. My husband and I remain bound to the castle and its landscape, our lives and hearts belong to the place. An architectural witness to so much history, it is nevertheless both a home and a business. The focus of all our endeavours is to preserve the past for the generations to come.
Biography & Autobiography.
History.
Nonfiction.
HTML:
Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the setting for Julian Fellowesâ??s Emmy Award-winning PBS show Downton Abbey, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants, Catherine Wendell. In this transporting companion piece to the New York Times bestseller Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, Catherine, a beautiful and spirited American woman who married Lady Alminaâ??s son, the man who would become the 6th Earl of Carnarvon, presides over the grand estate during a tumultuous time for the British aristocracy. Following the First World War, many of the great houses of England faded as their owners fortunes declined in the new political and social world of the 1920s and 1930s. As war loomed, Highclereâ??s survival as the family home of the Carnarvons was again in the balanceâ??as was peace between the nations of Eu
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The book is historically accurate in every detail that I could personally verify. Lady Carnarvon had access to all the historical records and artifacts of the home and that must have helped tremendously in fleshing out these people and detailing life at Highclere. There are all the usual spottings of the rich and famous, coming and going at Highclere, particularly during World War II, but there is also enough beneath the surface revelation on Lady Catherine and the Earl to make them seem individual and not stereotypes.
(