The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House, 1918–1939

English writer and historian Tinniswood (The Rainborowes) elegantly explores the glamorous interwar age of English rural getaways, revealing the not-so-secret affairs of the inhabitants and the reinterpretation of architectural and interior design (particularly the “Wrenaissance” style of the Edwardian Baroque). In the years between the World Wars, sprawling country houses returned to fashion thanks to burgeoning railroad travel. The English nobility—and even royalty, such as the future Edward VIII—enjoyed their minipalace getaways, and soon the trend caught on with the nouveau riche—in particular Americans such as William Randolph Hearst, with his “English” castle in Wales. Plenty of famous and infamous people frequented these weekend homes, but Tinniswood provides little background to make non-British readers unaware of some of the ironies—such as the sight of the revolutionary Gore-Booth sisters in their own Anglo-Irish country house. Instead, Tinniswood’s examination—complete with gorgeous images—centers on architecture and design; he admires quality no matter the style and notes where it’s missing, especially where a new spouse muddled a project’s coherence. Tinniswood’s lovely chronological ode to a past lifestyle brims with tales of the elite’s tumultuous weekends and shows how the country house’s purpose changed with the times as the old social order came to a close. Photos. Agent: George Lucas, InkWell Management. (May)