"It is a rule that no Trevelyan ever sucks up either to the press, or the chiefs, or the "right people". The world has given us money enough to enable us to do what we think is right. We thank it for that and ask no more of it, but to be allowed to serve it" - G.M. Trevelyan. The Trevelyans are unique in British social and political history: a family which for several generations dedicated themselves to the service and chronicling of their country, from the radical, reforming civil servant Charles Edward Trevelyan to the historian G.M. Trevelyan. Often eccentric, priggish, high minded and utterly self-regarding, they have nonetheless left their mark on our past. This engaging history dispassionately explores the lives and achievements of this unique family and the part they played in shaping the history of Great Britain. From their inauspicious beginnings in a small dwelling in Cornwall to the present day, some Trevelyans have been famous and distinguished, others less so, but for a hundred years from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century family members from Lord Macaulay to G.M. Trevelyan contributed to both the writing and the making of history. This book is primarily the tale of the five men who flourished during this period - Charles Edward, George Otto, Charles Philips, George Macaulay and Humphry Trevelyan - and the clever and formidable women they married. Including many vivid portraits of the most influential members of this remarkable family, The Trevelyans casts light on the period of enormous social and cultural change in which they lived and examines why they chose not to simply exploit their position as landed gentry but instead to take their place at the centre of scholarship and politics.
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Review
This is a model of family history and, indeed, of history. -- Contemporary Magazine
`I.B.Tauris has produced a compelling tract that speaks as much to the
scholarly renaissance of 19th century Britain as it does the personal
history of the Trevelyan family. Both publisher and author are to be
commended, and the book comes with the highest of praise.' Justin Carter -- Supreme Court History Program Yearbook
'This fascinating portrait reveals [the Trevelyans] as perhaps
admirable and repellent in equal measure' -- David McLaurin, The Tablet
'an intelligent, entertaining and strikingly fair account of one
of Britain's most remarkable...families' -- Philip Ziegler, The Spectator
`I.B.Tauris has produced a compelling tract that speaks as much to the
scholarly renaissance of 19th century Britain as it does the personal
history of the Trevelyan family. Both publisher and author are to be
commended, and the book comes with the highest of praise.' Justin Carter -- Supreme Court History Program Yearbook
'This fascinating portrait reveals [the Trevelyans] as perhaps
admirable and repellent in equal measure' -- David McLaurin, The Tablet
'an intelligent, entertaining and strikingly fair account of one
of Britain's most remarkable...families' -- Philip Ziegler, The Spectator
About the Author
Laura Trevelyan is a BBC Correspondent. She has worked for the BBC since 1993, reporting for many radio and television programmes including Newsnight, The Today Programme and the Ten O'Clock News. She lives with her husband and children in New York.
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This is a book about my ancestors, the Trevelyan family, and the part they played in shaping the story of our nation. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
This is a book about my ancestors, the Trevelyan family, and the part they played in shaping the story of our nation. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Raymond
Format:Hardcover
This engaging biography about some of her family by Laura Trevelyan, currently BBC Correspondent in North America, is a fascinating read. It discusses the lives of five of her most famous relatives, starting with Sir Charles Trevelyan who some hold responsible for the Irish famine of 1848, who created the English civil service in its modern form, and played an important role in the government of India. Another chapter discusses his grandson, also Sir Charles Trevelyan, who led the opposition to the First World War, was a Liberal and then Labour MP in the early years of the twentieth century, and then gave the family home and estate, Wallington in Northumberland, to the National Trust. A third deals with the author's famous great-grandfather, G M Trevelyan, notable historian and near the end of his life Master of Trinity at the heart of the British establishment. The Trevelyans discussed were part of what Noel Annan once called "the intellectual aristocracy", providing fascinating light on British histroy through the prism of one family.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A Very British Family
Book was history of a family I am distantly related to and it helped greatly to fill in a lot of blank spaces in my family tree.
Book was history of a family I am distantly related to and it helped greatly to fill in a lot of blank spaces in my family tree.
By Jane Taylor
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A clear-eyed and affectionate account of some of the author's ancestors, who played leading roles in the Britain of their time
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