In this chronological selection of 32 of the most notable houses in England and Wales, Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd and Christopher Simon Sykes present a stunning visual history of the evolution of the `great house', including Castle Howard, Chatsworth and Highclere Castle (familiar to television viewers as `Downton Abbey'). It is also a history of great families, seen as part of the houses they created, where their descendants, in many cases, still live today. Full of memorable characters and anecdotal insight, this book is a glorious tribute to what Evelyn Waugh called `our chief national artistic achievement'.

The original photographs show the unexpected as well as the familiar - the private rooms and the servants' quarters as well as the grand exteriors and state rooms, the gardens and noble landscapes. They include some of the most splendid examples of English art and architecture, illustrating the work of Inigo Jones, John Vanbrugh, Thomas Chippendale, Robert Adam and Lancelot `Capability' Brown.