The Fate of the English Country House

About 2000 country houses - all of them large and opulent and surrounded by extensive estates - remain more or less intact in England today. This book describes in detail the present state of these houses. From extensive conversations with many of the owners, managers, and curators of these houses, Professor Littlejohn extrapolates the probable future of England's historic houses, evaluates the many proposals that have been put forward for their survival, and considers the political, economic, and archaic heritage of the aristocratic past.