The Edwardian Country House

by Juliet Gardiner

"The Edwardian Country House" gives an insight into the romance and reality of Edwardian society and evokes the "golden" years before World War I. In this illustrated book, Juliet Gardiner explores the key events in the social calendar of a wealthy Edwardian family - a fancy dress ball, a society dinner party, a village fete, a musical evening, a shooting party - from not only the points of view of the family, but also from that of the servants. Detailed descriptions of the day-to-day activities involved in running a country house are told through diary extracts, letters, advice manuals and recipes, while special craft features enable readers to create a range of authentic Edwardian delights for themselves. Providing a look at a period that was glorious for a few but certainly not all, this is a book on Edwardian life as seen through 21st-century eyes.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature

288 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2003

Reviews

[K.R. Smith]

I've watched The Edwardian House (as it's called in Australia) so many times now, I can't count. I've grown to love those that worked downstairs but not necessarily all of those that dwelled upstairs. This companion book is a wealth of Edwardian facts and an in-depth look at what the cameras didn't capture. There are a few irks and quirks with the editing of this book (so the prior owner of my book noted with scribbles when I thought I bought a new copy not a second hand copy from Amazon). But the photographs compliment the information wonderfully.

[Emily]

Kind of a mess but it was great fun. Manor House is my favorite reality show ever and I was hoping for hot gossip about the cast and the making of, but this book has little of that: The lower servants snuck upstairs once when the family was at the opera, end of story. Even most of the servant commentary is lifted from dialogue that was presented in the show, as opposed to diary cam comments or post-filming interviews or letters or diaries or any other source. In the main then, this is a book about Edwardian history that includes things like a looooong chapter on King Edward's mistresses and a lot of Edwardian politics. A lot of general good information about the role of servants in an Edwardian household is presented, and tied in to the Edwardian Country House cast experiences, and that's what makes this book good, but not informative about the Edwardian Country House project.

Lots of bonkers typos (calling Alexander Graham Bell "Robert Graham Bell") and inserts on how to make Edwardian crafts at home that look like page layout errors until you get used to them.

[Sarah]

An OK book about the Edwardians with some interesting info. However the TV stuff is just a description of what you saw on screen and doesn't add anything to the series. I would have liked a more in depth look at what the participants thought. In the books for the BBC farm series (Wartime Farm) as the participants are the authors they are able to intersperse the experiences with the history and that is what is missing here.

[Susan]

I bit meandering in terms of structure, but completely packed with wonderful historical details, as well as behind-the-scenes details of the show. Worth a read if this is your sort of thing.

[Hazel]

I found the tv series absorbing. Hope my library has a copy of this.

[Angie Marker]

Good show but even more information on the lifestyles including a big section on Victorian picnics, a huge pastime. Great photographs of the show to accompany the information