Author:Catherine Bailey
An extraordinary tale of family feuds, forbidden love, civil unrest and the downfall of a mining dynasty
Wentworth in Yorkshire was surrounded by 70 collieries employing tens of thousands of men. It is the finest and largest Georgian house in Britain and belonged to the Fitzwilliam family.
England's forgotten palace, it belonged to Britain's richest aristocrats. Black Diamonds tells the story of its demise: family feuds, forbidden love, class war, and a tragic and violent death played their part. But coal, one of the most emotive issues in twentieth century British politics, lies at its heart.
This is the extraordinary story of how the fabric of English society shifted beyond recognition in fifty turbulent years in the twentieth century.
'Magnificent . . . peels back the grand façade of Wentworth to reveal a family riven with fueds, mental illness and forbidden love' Tatler
'A compelling new history . . . fascinating insights into the dynasty that once ruled this Yorkshire roost' Daily Mail
'An aristocratic tale of epic proportions, this gripping novel cleverly interweaves interviews, letters and historical fact . . . Fascinating' Easy Living
Tom Fort has put together a delightfully discursive book: a gentle rambling through the printed sources interlaced with meetings and outings to give it topicality.
—— Daily Mail... an entertaining survey of the history of man's ceaseless struggle to answer the big question: do I need to take my Mac?
—— The Independent... Good humoured and quietly ... The exchange between Johnson's Englishmen may not, in the end, arrive anywhere in particular, but it goes on to this day.Under the Weather is a worthy addition to that long-lived conversation, and a reminder of how compelling it remains.
—— GuardianA great little book about the British obsession with the climate, it's full of fruitful parcels of meteorological lore.
—— Conde Nast Traveller... The writing possesses an affable charm and Fort has an appealing layman's enthusiasm for the subject.
—— Financial Times MagazineAn entertaining but rigorous antidote to the fast-and-loose-with-the-truth approach.
—— Radio TimesWonderfully engaging...Tinniswood has brought the Verneys to life in robustly vivid style
—— GuardianA wonderful group portrait of an eccentric and ill-starred dynasty. Expertly handling the humorous words and unwise deeds of several generations of Verneys, Adrian Tinniswood breathes life into the turbulent history of an entire century
—— Ross King, author of Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling and Brunelleschi's DomeAdrian Tinniswood's The Verneys takes us on a fascinating grand tour through a world turned upside down. It is an intimate, engaging, and richly rewarding book, showing the seventeenth century in all its splendor and brutality
—— David King, author of When the World Came to Town and Finding AtlantisHow eloquently Mak rails against the alliance of consumerism and bureaucracy! ... He has a great eye for telling detail... Only a powerful, humane and serious mind could give coherence to mass detail which, however arresting piece by piece, would otherwise soon become wearying... as much a journey around Geert Mak's head as it is a journey around Europe
—— GuardianFascinating
—— David V Barrett , Independent