For more than one hundred years, Country Life magazine has published a weekly article devoted to a country house. Superbly illustrated with specially commissioned photographs, they form an unrivalled archive for lovers of stone houses in England, America, and beyond. Drawing on this remarkable resource, Nicholas Mander has selected 200 photographs to illustrate his fascinating survey of the English stone houses through the ages. More than thirty houses, grouped by period and style, reveal the historical and architectural importance of the stone house. Divided into three sections, the book looks first at sublime castles, magnificent manor houses, as well as important Jacobean houses. Part two includes classical country houses and noblemen's palaces of the eighteenth century, and also surveys the twentieth century and beyond, documenting the work of leading practitioners of the Arts and Crafts movement. A final chapter covers some of the most recent houses and gardens.