A tragic story from a fantastic new author - Rated 
I was lent the book by my cousin. What a fantastic story - you could almost imagine that it was fiction. Catherine Bailey has thoroughly researched this magnificent book - bringing real characters back to life. She was impartial to both the aristocrats and miners alike and gave a fascinating insight into life in South Yorkshire at the turn of the 20th century.
A marvellous, evocative read. It made me cry. It also shows how one man's revenge - Manny Shinwell - brought about the destruction of a countryside so precious and loved by so many by envy. The Fitzwilliams were "good gentry" and obviously thought highly of their workers and their responsibility. Let us hope that one day, Wentworth and its story, will be known to all and that we will be able to enjoy its wonderful house, park, fields, woods and gardens as Billy wanted.
Riveting - Rated
This was a wonderful book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The mix of social history with personal stories worked well. The story of the lazy miner and what his wife did to make him work made me smile.
One of the most interesting books I have read in a long while. Please write another Ms Bailey!
Accessible history. - Rated
Read this as much as a history book as a novel. Couldnt put it down - history lessons were never like this. An absolute eye opener, I learnt so much social history. I agree absolutely with the two previous reviewers.
What the rich really think of working people - Rated
Great book tells the real history of Britain with the rich lording over the working classes sipping champagne whilst people they evicted have to live in tents in fields. Read and learn, things really haven't changed that much.
You couldn't make this up - Rated
I have to express an interest, having been brought up in one of the villages mentioned, knowing some of the people quoted, & going to a school founded by Lady Mabel Smith. It was a really fascinating read which I found hard to put down. It isn't easy to link the generations in a large family, but the author does it very well, the product of a great deal of research into the family, & much wider.
As the son of a miner I was particularly interested in the detail of the lives of the miners & their families, & the varying attitudes of the mine owners. The machinations of Royalty, the Government, & the committees explained so much of their struggle. Again the attention to detail gave credence & real life to the situations without the story dragging. In passing I would contrast the detail given of the Denaby situation with its wholesale evictions & legal threats, surely a milestone in industrial relations & the awful plight of many working people, with the lack of any mention in his book "The Edwardians" by local Labour politician Roy Hattersley. I found this book gave real insight & understanding of some of the important events in British history of the twentieth century, better than many textbooks, as well as a surprise unfolding of an aristocratic dysfunctional family. You are left asking "Are they all like that?"
|
