Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Grandest Country House in England.
Comment: This is a delightful book. It is written by the Duchess of Devonshire who has lived in the house since the 1950's and it is obvious from her writing that she loves the house and its surroundings very much. Her style is unstuffy and often quite humorous. The Duchess points out both the many merits of the house and its shortcomings and she is not afraid to put kitschy plastic lamps or Elvis telephones next to classic art or other priceless treasures that the house is full of.
The Book starts with a short introduction and then goes on to the history of the house and of the first ten Dukes. Then she describes the house and the chances that has taken place there since she moved in there in the 50's with her husband, Andrew Cavendish the 11th Duke of Devonshire.
The book then turns to the exploration of the house, both the Public Route and the Private rooms. Then there is a chapter about the workings of the house called behind the scenes and then book ends on a short epiloque.
There are colour photographs on almost every other page and the text and the photographs match very well so you don't have to turn back and forward all the time.
On the whole the book is very well written and structured.Chatsworth is a very beautiful house and the gardens and the scenery around the House is breathtaking. The house is full of interesting antique furniture, clocks and books, lots of paintings by past masters and other arts treasures. There is a large room dedicated to sculpture mostly collected by the sixth Duke an I loved to see there a titanium fan from a RB-211-524G jet engine which are fitted to Boeing 747. It was put there by the present Duke and it is a modern sculpture in its own right.
If you are interested in the Country Houses of England or Architecture and the Arts in general you will propably love this book, there is also a good video available which explores the House.
Of related interest there are the books by her sister Nancy Mitford, The pursuit of love, and Love in a cold climate.
And about country houses see James Lees-Milne and Mark Girouard.
