The House Party

<b>A delightful</b> <b>journey</b><b> through the glamorous story of the English country house party by the bestselling historian.</b><br><b></b><br><b>Croquet. Parlour games. Cocktails. </b>Welcome to a glorious journey through the<b> golden age of the country house party </b>- and <i>you </i>are invited. <br><br>Our host, <b>celebrated historian</b> <b>Adrian Tinniswood</b>, traces the evolution of this quintessentially British pastime from debauched<b> royal tours</b> to the flamboyant excess of the <b>Bright Young Things</b>. With cameos by the <b>Jazz Age</b> industrialist, the bibulous earl and the off-duty politician - whether in moated manor houses or ornate Palladian villas - Tinniswood gives a vivid insight into <b>weekending etiquette </b>and reveals the hidden lives of <b>celebrity guests</b>, from<b> Nancy Astor to Winston Churchill,</b> in all their drinking, feasting, gambling and fornicating. <br><br>The result is a deliciously entertaining,<b> star-studded,</b> yet surprisingly moving portrait of a time when social conventions were being radically overhauled through the escapism of a generation haunted by <b>war </b>- and a uniquely fast-living period of <b>English history. </b><br><b></b><br><b>Praise for <i>The Long Weekend</i>:</b><br><br><b>'Delicious, occasionally fantastical, revealing in ways that <i>Downton</i> <i>Abbey</i> never was. It is as if Tinniswood is at the biggest, wildest, most luxuriantly decadent party ever thrown, and he knows <i>everyone</i>.'</b> Observer <br><b></b><br><b>'A deliciously jaunty and wonderfully knowledgeable book. Tinniswood displays a terrific insider's grasp of gossip . A meticulous, irresistible story.' </b>Spectator <br><br><b>'Elegant, encyclopedic and entertaining . A confident and skilled historian who understands the mores of his era and wears his learning lightly . Deserves to be on every costume drama producer's bookshelf.' </b>Times