Review (PDF) Manor House: Life In An Edwardian Country House
The Edwardian age (1904-1914) was the last time the rich could afford to build enormous country houses surrounded by formal landscaped gardens. These homes, where the owners often entertained guests at week-long house parties, were run by an army of servants working nearly round the clock. What happens when modern people volunteer to live in such a mansion - either as the owner and his family or as their servants - under the watchful eye of video cameras in every room? The Edwardian Country House, the companion book to the TV series of the same name, chronicles the experiment. The participants re-create the daily life of the time, both upstairs and "below stairs," with the help of authentic historical diary extracts, letters, advice manuals, and recipes. With color photos throughout, projects are also included to help readers re-create the period at home with a range of authentic Edwardian activities and crafts.
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Bay Books (CA); First American Edition edition (April 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1579590829
ISBN-13: 978-1579590826
Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,151,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #507 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Television > Guides & Reviews #1008 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Television > Shows #5280 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater
This is an excellent companion to the Manor House series on PBS. It combines the historical background of the Edwardian period, information about each of the participants in the project, recipes and instructions for making items seen in the series, and information that was not shown during the series, such as the story behind the pig's head (and whether Monsieur Dubiard was trying to gross out the Oliff-Coopers) and more about Guy's education (a surprise there!). I only wished it had information on the selection process and what happened after the series ended.
If you share my opinion that Manor House is one of the best reality series, you'll enjoy this book. As thorough as the series was, there are reams or reels or whatever of footage that never made it onto TV, so this book provides more information about Edwardian life, the participants and events of the series. It's an oversize book which unfortunately makes for awkward reading -- and it does have a lot of text that you'll want to read. However, the size makes for good display of photos, including many taken in Edwardian times and even at Manderstone, the house where the series was shot. So you see that they really did dress up in a thousand items of clothing just to watch cricket on the lawn or stroll around the grounds. A fascinating addition to a well-made series. I loved the series and could have watched ten times what they showed on TV and therefore really appreciate this book.
I missed most of the series on PBS, but what I saw looked very good, much better than the earlier 1900 House. This book is the companion to the TV program and is really better suited to those who have seen it as I found some parts a little confusing due to not having watched most of it.The book gives a good background on the house itself but is skimpy on the program, reads almost like it is about a real Edwardian family, no details on family selection or what happened after their stay was over.All of the photographs are very good, the little extra sections on the cast I found interesting (likely would've been better if I'd actually seen the show), the side bits on foods and other items were even interesting.I did notice that, as in 1900 House, the experts setting up made a surprising blunder, here they forgot to check the possibility that a decades unused chimney might be blocked (which it was). Another thing I found little mention of was the Silver stair railing (does the show mention it?), something so unusal and only a couple of photo captions about it.Not enough to be a time travelers textbook but a very good companion to the series.
I am thoroughly delighted with this book, having never seen "The Edwardian Country House" series. Anyone interested in the Edwardian era, British society at the turn of the 20th century, and cultural histories will enjoy the book. It's beautifully done, as well, with gorgeous illustrations throughout.
This was a fun read after seeing the series. Long before Downton Abby, the series recreates life in the English manor house. Interestingly, only one person in this recreation was happy with his life in the manor house and that was the Lord of the Manor. He was the ONLY one who had any sort of freedom at all.
Excellent book, a clear portrait of the life of people during the Victorian and Regency Eras. The WWI ended many of these houses, it created a maelstrom that killed many of the nobles (who had the upper echelons in the Army)
This is a large, coffee table-sized book, but much more than "just a coffee table book." There are gorgeous photos, but also a lot of informative text - about the participants in the series (profiles of each, plus snippets of conversation and such), history of the manor house (Manderston) and additional details about the show. If you are interested in country house servants of the Edwardian Era, this book is a surprisingly good reference work. I also enjoyed the pieces on Edwardian county life, recipes (food, such as the chef's pineapple-mint moulded jelly, and beauty creams), tips of the era such as how to wash corsets, fold those intricate dinner napkins, set a table, floral arrangements etc. The photos as noted are beautiful, in somecases showing things not gone into much in the series (such as Lady Oliff-Cooper riding sidesaddle in full Edwardian dress - she an Miss Anston supposedly rode together regularly - I didn't know before, as no scenes of this were shown in the series that I recall (though they do show the older son riding and mention that Miss Anston had become very fond of the horses). There are also a number of period photos, including some of Manderston - a shot of the Manderston kitchen maid from Edwardian times is facinating, for example. I am really happy with the book and only wish I'd purchased it years ago.
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