A fascinating insight into 18th century aristocratic life through the lives of the four Lennox sisters, the great grandchildren of Charles II, whose extraordinary lives spanned the period 1740-1832. Passionate, witty and moving, the voices of the Lennox sisters reach us with immediacy and power, drawing the reader into their remarkable lives, and making this one of the most enthralling historical narratives to appear for many years. (19941121)
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Engrossing (Karen Robinson Sunday Times )
A dazzling achievement: an extraordinary story told by a phenomenally gifted writer. Within its gripping narrative lies a wonderfully rich reconstruction of the world of the Hanoverian elite, its virtues and vices wittily and movingly related (Simon Schama )
Aristocrats is a wonderful panorama of a book (Victoria Glendinning Literary Review )
Their story is on one level as hard to put down as any of the fashionable French novels that were Caroline's favourite reading. On another it re-explores a century's history seen, so to speak, inside out through the eyes of four remarkable women who started young, lived long, did much, wrote more and have found a scarcely less remarkable biographer in Stella Tillyard (Hilary Spurling Daily Telegraph )
Tillyard's moving and often brilliant book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of aristocracy and enormously entertaining reading for everyone else (Linda Colley Observer )
A dazzling achievement: an extraordinary story told by a phenomenally gifted writer. Within its gripping narrative lies a wonderfully rich reconstruction of the world of the Hanoverian elite, its virtues and vices wittily and movingly related (Simon Schama )
Aristocrats is a wonderful panorama of a book (Victoria Glendinning Literary Review )
Their story is on one level as hard to put down as any of the fashionable French novels that were Caroline's favourite reading. On another it re-explores a century's history seen, so to speak, inside out through the eyes of four remarkable women who started young, lived long, did much, wrote more and have found a scarcely less remarkable biographer in Stella Tillyard (Hilary Spurling Daily Telegraph )
Tillyard's moving and often brilliant book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of aristocracy and enormously entertaining reading for everyone else (Linda Colley Observer )
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'Aristocrats is my favourite kind of history: on the one hand it's lucid and scholarly, on the other hand it reads like a novel. I hated to finish it' - Antonia Fraser
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
This is one of my favourite historical books. The author succeeds in bringing each of the sisters to life, you really feel you know and can relate to them personally although they lived so long ago and had a way of life which many could not relate now. She has a talent for showing how figures from the past had the same concerns and fears as we have today, they may have had money and privilege, but still were helpless in the face of infant mortality and illness. Since reading this book, I have become interested in learning about other women in history but none compare to Tillyard's perfect blend of human interest, historical fact and writing style. I highly recommend it.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
This is a very well-researched account of the lives of the four eldest Lennox sisters, who between them survived for almost a century at a time of great change in both Britain and Europe generally. Stella Tillyard draws together the correspondence of the sisters, their friends and relations, to build up a picture of their lives within the context of the major events of the time. The narrative races along, with frequent reference to the many photographs and paintings which appear in the book. This assists the visualisation of the characters who appear and of the locations in which they lived. I read the book while the recent BBC adaptation was being shown and was charmed to find that the script had relied heavily not so much on the book but on the text of the letters. The characters are not perfect, or dry and dusty. They are emotional, wilful, argumentative and frequently very badly-behaved, but they are the more engaging for having their flaws examined as closely as their merits. I look forward to reading more by the same author, and more about the 18th century. Even if you've never read anything about Georgian London or Ireland, you will find much to enjoy in this book, and it may lead you to discover more about the period generally.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Marble-Chan
An amazingly insightful book into the lives of women in the eighteenth century. Difficult to put down and always fun to read again. For about a year I have considered it my bedtime book, to read when I want something interesting and descriptive. The careful detailing that Stella Tillyard pays to every bit of evidence at her disposal leaves no questions unanswered and the amount of research at the back of the book just amazes me as to how committed she was to her research and how committed the Lennox sisters were to each other. :)
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoroughly interesting reading
I started with Aristocrats after grappling with Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire which is a lot drier than this and was delighted by it. Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2000
4.0 out of 5 stars
Informative and interesting.
Buy this book as an interesting read or as an educational journal giving an insight into the lives of the aristocracy of the eighteenth century.
Published on 27 Dec 1999
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