Adrian Tinniswood The Houses of Guinness : The Lives, Homes & Fortunes of the

Tinniswood has created a tome of architectural brilliance, uncomfortable historical truths, and a complicated legacy of power and philanthropy. The Irish TimesStep inside the historic homes of the Guinness family and enter a world of power, privilege and palatial living. The Guinnesses became famous as brewers, philanthropists and socialites, but they also created some of the most distinctive homes in Britain and Ireland, where they lived, loved and entertained in high style. Royalty was a frequent visitor to Ashford Castle and Elveden Hall. At Luggala Oonagh Guinness welcomed rock stars, actors and artists. At Biddesden Bryan Guinness lived the life of an urbane country squire, while at Kelvedon his cousin Honor left her husband Chips Channon to play the country gentleman while she ran off with her land agent. The familys Dublin mansions Farmleigh, St Annes and 80 St Stephens Green were a byword for grandeur and opulence. And the Guinnesses spent a fortune buying two spectacular country houses, Kenwood and Castletown, not to live in, but simply to save them from destruction and to give them away. Adrian Tinniswood, the bestselling historian of the country house, opens the door to castles and mansions that once belonged to the greatest brewing dynasty the world has ever seen. Tinniswood ... [is] an erudite historian of countryhouse life in all its anecdoteworthy vagaries. Financial TimesWe are in the company of a confident and skilled historian who understands the... | Adrian Tinniswood The Houses of Guinness : The Lives, Homes & Fortunes of the