Theirs Was the Kingdom

The Swann Saga #2

by R.F. Delderfield

A brilliantly woven tapestry of history and adventure, this imposing novel continues the saga of the Victorian giant of commerce Adam Swann and his tough-minded wife, as it follows their fortunes in the penultimate decade of the nineteenth century, and in the careers of the five Swann children reflects both the triumphs and tragedies of Imperial England.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, British Literature, Historical, 19th Century, Literature, Victorian

798 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Ronald Frederick Delderfield was a popular English novelist and dramatist, many of whose works have been adapted for television and are still widely read.

Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - rounded down.

The second book in a three-part series that began with God is an Englishman. I did not like this book as much as the first one, primarily because I think a good editor could have cut it by a good 250 pages. There is much time spent on offshoot characters, detailed business dealings, and repetition and it detracts from the stories which are interesting and which you really want Delderfield to get back to. In the end, I found myself dissatisfied and wanting to restructure and rewrite whole sections.

Much of the history in the book is well-researched and accurate, but there is also a touch of anachronism in some of the actions and attitudes that reflect more toward the time in which the book is being written than the time in which it is set. Several times I had to stop and think about whether I found certain elements believable in 1885 or whether they didn’t seem more akin to 1970.

Can you say all those negative things about a book and then say you are pleased to have read it? There are moments when I was completely hooked and anxious to see where the thread was leading. There were moments when he surprised me and the plot took a turn I did not expect, and I enjoyed that feeling that perhaps I did not know where every path would lead. And, I keep thinking that if I had read this series before I read the Poldark books, I might have liked it better. I keep drawing comparisons and Delderfield keeps losing out to Winston Graham.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes if you're looking for an unexpected find, it pays to check out the 30 year old books your parents are giving to goodwill.

Theirs was the Kingdom is book II in what is commonly called the "God is an Englishmen" trilogy. Book I is the story of a guy who quits the army to seek his fortune and start a family at the dawn of the industrial revolution of Victorian England. Book II is the continuation of him and his large family, with each child now spawning a subthread.

It's a great, involved, historical trilogy. (Trilogies are my favorite kind of -ilogy). Sometimes it pontificates a bit much, but my only real criticism is that the author tends to be formulaic in the way his complicated threads and intrigues all eventually work out the way they should. (But hey, if we want to read about things not working the way we want, maybe we should all just stick to work emails...)

Be forewarned, these books are thick tomes...the kind of books that made you wish you had a kindle. In fact, they'll probably even make your kindle heavy.

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good, in my opinion, as book 1 of this series. I enjoy the Swann family but this book was definitely 200 pages too long. Why? Adam Swann is the patriarch of the family and the owner of the transport business, Swann on Wheels. He is married to Henrietta and this book has way too much of Henrietta reminiscing about their family. I am not sure why the author did this, and whether this was to allow us to keep all the family members straight in our minds (they did have 9 children!), but the book dragged for me. Yes it is a good story, and yes there are interesting sections in the book, but just as things got interesting there was Henrietta reminiscing about her family and then Adam started doing the same with the business.
Enjoyed the story of how the 2nd generation of Swanns is now doing, but in my opinion there should have been much more about there stories and less about remembering.
One more to go in this series, but I am taking a break from the Swann's for a bit, which I am sure will be OK since Henrietta will most likely be back in Book 3 and remind me of anything I may have forgotten!

[Susan's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second installment of the Swann saga. No filler here, just the continuation of the transport empire that Swann was hellbent on building. For some strange reason I was utterly fascinated by Delderfield's descriptions of how Swann started off with just a few trucks, modernized and became a big deal in the transport industry.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this a hundred years ago, long long long before this edition was published.... but they offered me no other editions to choose from. I remember that I loved this book ..... England before and during WW I, the hearts and souls of the class systems, the thankless hard work of the serf-classes, the privileged lifestyle of the upper classes coupled with the attendant parental 'affection' and 'caring for' or condescending arrogance toward the working poor. Since first reading this I have grown up completely and see the harsh realities for what they were and still are to some extent, but I still love the England of old with its resplendent countryside, beautiful old manor homes, cozy cottages and rural villages... for a simpler, more fundamental life they seemed to live back then.....
I have recently found the book again at a yard sale, bought it and often see it on my shelf, awaiting a reread and perhaps a new perspective on their kingdom.

[AngelaC · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second volume in the Swann family saga is like a Victorian cameo bracelet. Each cameo describes the teenage years and early adulthood of the older Swann children yet all are interlinked to form an overall view of the family in the 1880s and 1890s. The father, Adam, is still a forward thinker in the business world while the mother, Henrietta, happily schemes and plans to try and ensure that her children have the lives they want.
Written with Delderfield's usual attention to detail, the descriptions of the countryside are particularly good.
I must admit to being biased with this book because I am a Delderfield fan. Some people may find it rather long-winded, even ponderous. I found it provides an excellent view of social changes in the 19th century.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was stunned, but I just couldn't get into this book! I read about half of it, thinking it had to get better because it's so popular. But it never did. Very formulaic: stereotypical characters and plots. Yuck.
------------------------------------------------
"An enormous best seller, Theirs Was the Kingdom is the vast and richly satisfying saga of Adam Swann and a great family dynasty in Victorian England -- a magnificent novel, complete in itself, and the companion volume to R.F. Delerfield's God Is an Englishman."
~~back flap

" . . . following the enormous success of God Is an Englishman. -- is a vast, engrossing novel of England at the height of her power and of Adam Swann, the adventurous founder of a mighty commercial empire, his wife Henrietta and the family of spirited, headstrong children who will carry his name and fortune into the future:
"Alex, the oldest son, who chooses the risks and hardships of a military career and wins glory in the Sudan.
"Stella, married at 18 to an impotent aristocrat who tries to imprison her in his life of shame and disgrace.
"Giles, the family intellectual; and George, who succumbs to the charms of his German landlady but marries a pretty young Austrian who brings him an embryo motor car as her dowry.
"Deborah Avery, Swann's adopted daughter, whose fighting social conscience involves her with W.T. Stead, muckraking journalist, and his crusade against the child prostitution and white slave traffic that flourished beneath the facade of respectability in the Victorian Age.

Against the backdrop of middle-class comfort and cutthroat commercial rivalries, Theirs Was the Kingdom is the story of a great family dynasty, a saga spanning nearly twenty years and as packed with scenes and characters as a novel by Dickens."

As you can plainly see, I tried to read this book back in 2009 and wasn't impressed; abandoned the book. But since I wanted to read the Swann trilogy, I started the book again. I can see why I didn't care for it first time around. The first part is a recap of God Is an Englishman., and is boring if you haven't read that book. The author's style does get a bit turgid when it branches off into that recap, philosophical discussion of the times, people's attitudes, etc. But continuing the personal stories of all the characters was worth wading through the turgid because they're all interesting stories. I quite enjoyed the book this time round, and can't wait to read Give Us This Day, the third and last book in the trilogy.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tried my patience! Beautiful writing. Fields and fields of lush, beautiful writing. A continued family saga with plenty of characters that I really like. There were chapters that would have garnered five stars on their own. That said, I can't say that this book lived up to my expectations.

I just wanted to take a beautiful journey with the Swann family and instead I got bogged down in some lengthy asides about the family business, much of which was just Delderfield rehashing events from the first book in the series. There are some other things that I could quibble about also.

This series does cover some important events in British history such as the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria and inventions that changed the way people lived forever. And, Delderfield can write. All things considered, I would have to say this is a three and a half star book for me.

Full review to follow.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as GIAE - see why in that review.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This thing is 900 pages and is literally of the can't-put-it-down school because I have sat up late reading and spent whole afternoons with it. Of course I admit that I'm a slow reader but the story is so compelling that even someone who didn't care about a corporation's development would be drawn into this tale of a man and his wife and the parallel development of his firm and her family. Along the way we encounter all the major events and developments of the Victorian Age in Britain: the rise of the Trades Unions, the acts to protect children, The "Zulu" War in southern Africa, Gordon in Egypt, Victoria's Jubilee, the beginning of mechanised transport, the mistreatment of shop staff, and the ugliest portrayal of homosexuality I have ever come across.
This trilogy is only in separate books because you can only put so many pages in one volume. The whole great mass just keeps rolling along the way life tends to do with things happening and then other things and then some more things along with a surprise or two.
The only complaints I have are Delderfield's repetition of phases to remind the reader of earlier events like Stella helping to rebuild a burned out farmhouse with her own hands and references to the "looted rubies" that funded Adam's start as well as Henrietta being swooped up by Adam on Seddon Moor. We're not likely to forget those events and this is not a series you can happily read out of order. I find the paragraphs of musing on Adam and Henrietta's part a little repetitious, too, especially Henrietta who really does go on about her wonderful success in raising nine children and having them fall into place (mostly) in her plans for them.
Those two items aside the whole thing is a gallop through the Victorian years that keeps you engrossed start to finish and ready to tackle the last third.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delderfield (1912-1972). Born in London in 1912, Delderfield moved with his family to South Devon in 1923, when his father, William James Delderfield, became editor of the Exmouth Chronicle. RF subsequently worked as a reporter on the same paper. This novel was published in 1971 and televised in 1980 and was set on the edge of Exmoor. Sadly, Delderfield died of cancer at the relatively young age of 60. This is the second volume in the trilogy and continues the story of the Swann family. I found this a well written and compelling story, "He thought about the Empire for a moment. Where its frontiers would be drawn and which tribe, if any, would overhaul it and challenge its supremacy by the time the old queen died and that plump, racketty Edward mounted her throne. The gloomy Germans, possibly, who had given the yammering French such a thrashing a few years ago. Or the Yankees, who were not likely to stay minding their own business." Love it!

[Mary Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this series when I was a teenager. Ran across this copy at the library book sale last fall and decided I would re-read it and see if it still held some appeal.

The book is part of a family saga about the Swanns, a merchant class family in England in the last half of the 19th century. This one is set in the 1880s. It is interesting to me now for the depiction of the family contrasted with the depiction of the company that Swann founded, and the descriptions of the increasing industrialization in Britain at that time.

Delderfield is somewhat longwinded, and there are seemingly endless explanations of how Henrietta Swann is feeling. But it was interesting to read the book from an older perspective, and not bad bedtime reading.

[Donnaplanstoread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 2 in the Swann family saga continues with Adam Swann building his empire and his older children coming of age. The story is slow and often repetitive but has enough to keep your interest. Overall it was not as engaging as God is an Englishman but still worth reading Hoping for better things from book 3. Sneak preview of book 3....this is what I wanted from book 2 already 20% into it and so far its a surprising roller coaster making be happy I didn't give up on the Swanns.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was good, but I liked the first one better.

[Diane Viall · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the sequel to God Is an Englishman which I enjoyed very much. This one was good but rather repetitious.

[Cassandra Wyckoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Verrrry long - more descriptive than necessary but a very good story.

[Lyona Rexedal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boken är en familjeroman med ett gigantiskt omfång. Romanen handlar om en mans mödosamma väg till att bygga upp ett stort transportföretag, hans framgång inom affärsvärlden och stora privata rikedomar. Han lyckas bygga ett transportnät inom hela England samtidigt som han skaffar sig en stor familj på nio barn och ett fosterbarn. Vi får lära känna varje familjemedlem och dess öde i denna romantiska familjekrönika där allting går som på räls. Vi får även lära känna alla föreståndare för de olika företagsdepåerna placerade runt om i England och vi bekantar oss med de stora samhällsförändringarna under 1800-talet.
Berättelsen är intressant då den omfattar mycket och brett i många avseenden. Vi får en bild av industrialismens (den engelska 1760-1840) fortsättning och uppbyggnad av sådant som blev början till dagens miljökatastrof. Vi får vara med om generationsskifte i denna förmögna och perfekta familj samt far och söner förhållandena som mynnar alltid ut i något gott och framgångsrikt.
Berättelsen är ganska lång på över 400 sidor, sträcker sig över ett helt liv och fick mig att känna en viss nedstämdhet i slutet för livet närmade sig sitt slut för huvudkaraktärparet.
Väl roande berättelse för de som gillar smöriga, historiska familjekrönikor.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What was 18th century England like for a business man such as Adam Swann. This book is a family saga touching upon every aspect life. Almost every character falls under the scrutiny of our author. We learn who they are: What their ambitions,etc. almost a novel within themselves! I
This a mighty book (800 pages) compared to 2020 standards, very naive in comparison to the violence and descriptive sex de rigueur today. The plot takes place under the panarama of historic events, works and people of importance. It deals with work ethics, love which still has rules and regulations but mostly how a wife and husband were helpmates to each other.
Quotes I liked:
“The final nails were being driven into the coffin of the 18th century pastoral economy by the arrival from dominions overseas of the first cargos of frozen mutton”
& “it demanded imaginative investments, well-guarded channels of communication and above all, a trained work force that was aware, every hour of the day, on which side its bread was buttered”
You will see that this author has a way with words!

[Dixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swann Family Saga Trilogy

A man's dream, luck latterly falls into his lap, breaking traditions, the intricacies of building a family, while building an empire. You grow attached to the characters and where they take you.
You must be a history buff or you will become one, to really enjoy R.F. Delderfilds writing as he goes into great researched detail about the history of Great Britain, Human rights, various wars, labor, children and womans rights, morality, the classes, the industrial revolution's effects and more. Some repetition from book to book and here and there it lags a bit, but I can vividly see his characters and enjoyed his descriptive changing of times, family and country. Well worth reading.

[Malcolm Lippett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in the story of Adam Swann and how he started with little and built up a huge haulage business bought a huge house and proceeded to have a huge family. The trouble when everything is huge, is the book is enormous, but still some of the tales of the family could be a book in themselves, yet these aren't expanded upon, but all the reminiscing about what Adam previously did is retold many times.
I first read this story 30 years ago and I still think the book, and the whole series are brilliant tales of a different era. RF Delderfield has almost become a forgotten author, the books were effectively "Box sets" of the 1970's and 80's, although I can't recall the Swann saga ever making it to TV, probably because it was too big a story.

[Larry Epp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating more like 3.5. I had read God is an Englishman about Adam Swann's building of a cartage business across England in the mid-1800s. This is a continuation -- a brick of a book with lots of rabbit holes following each child, often business partners, Adam and wife Henrietta. The essential story could be told in about half the pages -- I found myself skimming a number of times. Still, so much Victorian social, business, life, attitudes stuff, often comparing England to Europe. Worth the read just for that, even with the skimming.

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent second volume in the Swann trilogy. Covers approximately a decade: 1879 through 1889 and focuses on Adam Swann's growing children, their adventures (and misadventures) as they navigate adulthood. As well, Swann, getting on in age, comes to the realization that he has to cede some control of his haulier conglomerate to his various managers (and ultimately one son). The novel does a fine job in setting the plot in the rapid industrialization taking England by storm, along with the consequent pressures, good and bad, on its society.

[Gayle Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm fascinated by the Industrial Revolution and Delderfield brings all that cataclysmic change to life. The parallels to our current seismic cultural, social, and economic shifts are riveting. And I like spending time with the characters. I'm looking forward to starting the last book in the trilogy, but not just yet. I've work to do and I need my rest. These books keep me up til the wee hours way to often. Consider yourself warned. ;)

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this - book #2 - in the Swann series better than book #1. The themes are more varied and the family member stories are more well-developed. There are still some ponderous passages and in hindsight, some offensive parts too. But overall, much more interesting and enjoyable.

[Marion Granigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my old favourites that has finally come to Kindle. The series is very representative of 1970s historical fiction - where men were men and women were glad of it! It's not as captivating as The Avenue series, and certainly more long-winded, and the early 1970s prejudices can be jarring, but the history is interesting and nostalgia gives it an extra star.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Swann family saga continues. Very enjoyable.

[Mike Orta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written book that follows one family through the 1860 to 1914.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

continue to love this saga of the swann family

[Lora Shouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite all the long stories involved, I do really like large multigenerational sagas. So far, this God is an Englishman Series is among the best I have ever read.

For one thing, there is more to the story than the adventures of the individual family members. In addition to having eight children, Adam Swann has been all this time building his business, a hauling firm that has taken on the task of carrying the loads delivered around the country by the railroads from the train depots to their final destinations. (I like to think of them as English predecessors to modern companies liked Fed-Ex.)

In this book, we get much more than the adventures of Adam and his wife, Henrietta. There are the ongoing incidents in the life of the various elements of “the network” – the regional departments of Swann-on-Wheels. And there is change in the company itself, as Adam transforms it from a single proprietorship to a closely-held company. And there is the drama of trying to groom his second son, George, to succeed him as head of the company. This includes the vagaries of George’s love life, which leads rather abruptly to his traveling to Europe to study the practices of other similar companies. And this, in turn, leads to George’s almost accidentally discovering his real love – a motorized vehicle.

This is very early on – most of the incidents in the book occur in the 1880s and 1890s; the death of Queen Victoria figures in near the end of the book – so the motor vehicle George is tinkering with is a very early prototype, and Swann-on-Wheels remains very much a horse and wagon business. But I suspect that in the third book of the trilogy we will see it transformed into a trucking company.

Adam’s oldest son, Alex, is, meanwhile, pursuing a military career in the Boer war.

And we get the love lives of all of the other older children as well. I find the most interesting to be those of Stella, the oldest daughter, and Giles, the third son.

Stella was married at the tail end of God is an Englishman to a neighbor, the son of a minor lord from a family interested in horse racing. Stella too is interested in horses. But having gotten married, she finds the family to be exceedingly strange and needs to be rescued from them after less than a year. You can see just how strange they are from the fact that she is able to get the marriage annulled. Afterward, it is up to her to find her real love.

Giles, the family scholar, meets his future fiancée as he is walking across the country after he graduates from boarding school. She turns out to be the daughter of a very wealthy industrialist, and though she loves Giles very much, and he loves her, she is vastly spoiled. So much so, that Giles, who is extremely sympathetic to the plight of the working person, finds himself obliged to break up with her shortly before they are due to be married. She promptly disappears, and he is never really the same after that until he finds her again, and discovers, to his surprise, that she has been spending her time finding out for herself what it is like to live like the working class.

All in all, this was a most satisfying book, and I have high hopes that the final book in the series will be equally good.

[Colleen Formichelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

I was so glad to see the Delderfield books released on kindle. I am rereading all of them and enjoying the Swann family saga as much as the first time. Order them all as you will not want to wait between books.