This absorbing book covers both great mansions, such as Petworth House in Sussex, and less grand but nevertheless unique buildings in the care of the National Trust. It travels the length and breadth of the British Isles, presenting buildings ranging from stunning Cragside, rooted in the rugged Northumbrian landscape, to the rather more austere surroundings of the Workhouse in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, and beyond. Between them, these buildings have borne witness to a thousand years of history, from the time of William the Conqueror to the present day.