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The House Party
A delightful journey through the glamorous story of the English country house party by the bestselling historian.
Croquet. Parlour games. Cocktails. Welcome to a glorious journey through the golden age of the country house party and you are invited.
Our host, celebrated historian Adrian Tinniswood, traces the evolution of this quintessentially British pastime from debauched royal tours to the flamboyant excess of the "Bright Young Things". With cameos by the Jazz Age industrialist, the bibulous earl and the off-duty politician – whether in moated manor houses or ornate Palladian villas – Tinniswood gives a vivid insight into weekending etiquette and reveals the hidden lives of celebrity guests, from Nancy Astor to Winston Churchill, in all their drinking, feasting, gambling and fornicating.
The result is a deliciously entertaining, star-studded, yet surprisingly moving portrait of a time when social conventions were being radically overhauled through the escapism of a generation haunted by war – and a uniquely fast-living period of English history.
Croquet. Parlour games. Cocktails. Welcome to a glorious journey through the golden age of the country house party and you are invited.
Our host, celebrated historian Adrian Tinniswood, traces the evolution of this quintessentially British pastime from debauched royal tours to the flamboyant excess of the "Bright Young Things". With cameos by the Jazz Age industrialist, the bibulous earl and the off-duty politician – whether in moated manor houses or ornate Palladian villas – Tinniswood gives a vivid insight into weekending etiquette and reveals the hidden lives of celebrity guests, from Nancy Astor to Winston Churchill, in all their drinking, feasting, gambling and fornicating.
The result is a deliciously entertaining, star-studded, yet surprisingly moving portrait of a time when social conventions were being radically overhauled through the escapism of a generation haunted by war – and a uniquely fast-living period of English history.
- GenresNonfictionHistoryEbooks
144 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2019
19 people are currently reading
209 people want to read
About the author
Adrian Tinniswood
40 books65 followersAdrian John Tinniswood OBE FSA (born 11 October 1954) is an English writer and historian. He is currently Professor of English Social History at the University of Buckingham.
Tinniswood studied English and Philosophy at Southampton University and was awarded an MPhil at Leicester University.
Tinniswood has often acted as a consultant to the National Trust, and has lectured at several universities including the University of Oxford and the University of California, Berkeley.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
Tinniswood studied English and Philosophy at Southampton University and was awarded an MPhil at Leicester University.
Tinniswood has often acted as a consultant to the National Trust, and has lectured at several universities including the University of Oxford and the University of California, Berkeley.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 23, 2022
Queen Victoria’s Reign, Her Eldest Son, Edward & Friends Party at Country Homes. Lasts about 1/2 a century.Adrian Tinniswood’s The House Party A Short History of Leisure, Pleasure, and the Country House Weekend delves into country house parties and what went on with “ the Bright Young Things”.
This small volume packs a huge amount of information of who, where, what took place, the etiquette involved, how ‘social conventions’ were rapidly changing, and a ‘key’ factor - when these house parties hit their highest mark. The author, a historian, presents the who- Waldorf and Nancy Astor of Cliveden, Mary Elizabeth Lucy and her husband, George, of Charlecote (Park), the Marquess and Marchioness of Londonderry ,( Ireland ), etc., entertained the Prince of Wales, ultimately Edward VII, celebrities, and other BYT with gambling, cocktails, elegant food, shooting parties, more cocktails, Ascot, billiards and , always, musical beds, but the when is so important - between the two WWs is when is form of entertainment even topped itself. Fascinating reading of “fast-living period of British history”. 4.5 stars.
This small volume packs a huge amount of information of who, where, what took place, the etiquette involved, how ‘social conventions’ were rapidly changing, and a ‘key’ factor - when these house parties hit their highest mark. The author, a historian, presents the who- Waldorf and Nancy Astor of Cliveden, Mary Elizabeth Lucy and her husband, George, of Charlecote (Park), the Marquess and Marchioness of Londonderry ,( Ireland ), etc., entertained the Prince of Wales, ultimately Edward VII, celebrities, and other BYT with gambling, cocktails, elegant food, shooting parties, more cocktails, Ascot, billiards and , always, musical beds, but the when is so important - between the two WWs is when is form of entertainment even topped itself. Fascinating reading of “fast-living period of British history”. 4.5 stars.
January 15, 2024
This very short book is a brief overview of the country house weekend -- a curious addiction among the British upper crust over a bit less than a century (1860s-1950s) that involved congregating in a massive, drafty rural mansion to drink to excess, eat themselves into a coma, slaughter untold numbers of living creatures, and spend more money in two days than the average British workingman earned in several years.
Topping!
The author (a veteran writer of social and architectural history) gives us a chatty, gossipy look at various aspects of how the country house weekend went down, with particular emphasis on the period 1900-1950. Each chapter covers a small stage in the process, from sending, receiving, and answering invitations, to arriving at the house, to what one might eat, drink, shoot, or strike during the two days (typically Saturday afternoon to Monday morning) one spent as a guest. The prose is eminently readable and the whole thing goes down like a well-aged port.
Why only three stars? There's not enough of it, and the author goes coy when he gets to the less savory parts. He alludes to widespread consumption of drugs, cocaine among them, but doesn't mention how prevalent it was, whether there was any etiquette to to the practice (does one serve blow before or after the fish course?), and how much of it was illegal at the time. He also alludes to the rampant bedhopping at these parties without any discussion of the particulars (as above: prevalence, etiquette, and consequences, if any). How much did the typical house party cost the hosts and the guests? How much of the goings-on were widely known by the proletariat, and what did they think of it? What (if any) impact did it have on popular culture? Did the wretched excess contribute to the mass extinction of the country house as an institution? Inquiring minds want to know!
The other downside is the industrial-scale namedropping that may be unavoidable in this kind of reportage. (I complained about this in The Riviera Set , too.) This becomes especially egregious when most of the names dropped haven't been in common currency for three generations. If ever a non-fiction book needed a cast list, this is it.
I read this book for research; I'll probably subject my aviatrix heroine to one of these soirees at some point in the series. If you want to read this between streaming reruns of Downton Abbey, be advised that the material covers the same bases without the benefit of Carson or Lady Mary to add humanity. If you actually want to learn about the subject, you're probably better off consulting one of the book-length treatments of this very thing, or perhaps some E.M. Forster.
Topping!
The author (a veteran writer of social and architectural history) gives us a chatty, gossipy look at various aspects of how the country house weekend went down, with particular emphasis on the period 1900-1950. Each chapter covers a small stage in the process, from sending, receiving, and answering invitations, to arriving at the house, to what one might eat, drink, shoot, or strike during the two days (typically Saturday afternoon to Monday morning) one spent as a guest. The prose is eminently readable and the whole thing goes down like a well-aged port.
Why only three stars? There's not enough of it, and the author goes coy when he gets to the less savory parts. He alludes to widespread consumption of drugs, cocaine among them, but doesn't mention how prevalent it was, whether there was any etiquette to to the practice (does one serve blow before or after the fish course?), and how much of it was illegal at the time. He also alludes to the rampant bedhopping at these parties without any discussion of the particulars (as above: prevalence, etiquette, and consequences, if any). How much did the typical house party cost the hosts and the guests? How much of the goings-on were widely known by the proletariat, and what did they think of it? What (if any) impact did it have on popular culture? Did the wretched excess contribute to the mass extinction of the country house as an institution? Inquiring minds want to know!
The other downside is the industrial-scale namedropping that may be unavoidable in this kind of reportage. (I complained about this in The Riviera Set , too.) This becomes especially egregious when most of the names dropped haven't been in common currency for three generations. If ever a non-fiction book needed a cast list, this is it.
I read this book for research; I'll probably subject my aviatrix heroine to one of these soirees at some point in the series. If you want to read this between streaming reruns of Downton Abbey, be advised that the material covers the same bases without the benefit of Carson or Lady Mary to add humanity. If you actually want to learn about the subject, you're probably better off consulting one of the book-length treatments of this very thing, or perhaps some E.M. Forster.
January 2, 2020
It’s not that this book is terrible, but it felt too ambitious for such a short volume. I’d rather we followed a single country house and the parties/weekenders thrown there over a course of years, or looked at the structure and etiquette of such events without necessarily illustrating each one with specific examples - instead, the book threw huge numbers of estate names and hosts at the reader, flitting from one to the other within a sentence, so that by the time I’d reached the end of a chapter, I had forgotten much of its content.
December 9, 2019
Lovely add on to The Long Weekend by Adrian Tinniswood!
Insightful and Entertaining! A lovely Sunday night read
Insightful and Entertaining! A lovely Sunday night read
May 30, 2021
Great fun!
May 22, 2021
It's such a shame this book is about 200 pages shorter than it should be, because there's real potential to get one's teeth into the subject.
I would have liked to have had more of an in-depth look at Country Houses (or maybe one or two houses in particular). The book has a good layout but it does hop around, and when it comes to specifics is disappointingly sparse.
Of course there's part of me, when reading this, that was sorely disappointed none of these people were first against the wall when the revolution came - especially Nancy Astor, famous for fascism, abstinence, and her accordion: those long winter nights must have just flown by.
Is it also jealousy? A glimpse at the interwar years, the beginnings of private car ownership so motoring down to the country for the weekend was a real possibility, and the idea of lazying around a huge country house in a lifestyle of privilege and idyll sounds lovely in comparing to real life. Just try not to think of the staff below stairs who can only hope for a 20p tip at the end of it.
I would have liked to have had more of an in-depth look at Country Houses (or maybe one or two houses in particular). The book has a good layout but it does hop around, and when it comes to specifics is disappointingly sparse.
Of course there's part of me, when reading this, that was sorely disappointed none of these people were first against the wall when the revolution came - especially Nancy Astor, famous for fascism, abstinence, and her accordion: those long winter nights must have just flown by.
Is it also jealousy? A glimpse at the interwar years, the beginnings of private car ownership so motoring down to the country for the weekend was a real possibility, and the idea of lazying around a huge country house in a lifestyle of privilege and idyll sounds lovely in comparing to real life. Just try not to think of the staff below stairs who can only hope for a 20p tip at the end of it.
Read
October 22, 2023not as interesting as I was hoping for tbh
February 15, 2025
3.5 stars over the tea table
Read mostly for research/reference and bought as a lighter (literally) adjunct to Tinniswood's The Long Weekend which I bought at the same time, but may or may not read through.
I find the Edwardian and interwar periods fascinating mostly because of the social changes, and country weekends are an interesting touch-point for examining them. Actually, you can't really get away from them if you're interested in the arts and letters of the period.... Or even just what the gays were up to. {ahem}
So, the book really just does what it says on the tin. Provides a brief, gossipy history of the great period of the country house weekend through the assorted writings of people who went to them, gave them, or worked at them.
The arrangement is nice, it takes you through the history in tandem with the progress of a weekend. So the early chapters are about the origins with queens and princes arriving on people's doorsteps in the Eighteenth century, and we end up with everyone going home on the eve of the second world war, and a final chapter about the fate of the houses and the hostesses afterward.
Entertaining, crisp and full of tiny titbits of information. Not at all comprehensive, but with plenty of leads to follow up.
Read mostly for research/reference and bought as a lighter (literally) adjunct to Tinniswood's The Long Weekend which I bought at the same time, but may or may not read through.
I find the Edwardian and interwar periods fascinating mostly because of the social changes, and country weekends are an interesting touch-point for examining them. Actually, you can't really get away from them if you're interested in the arts and letters of the period.... Or even just what the gays were up to. {ahem}
So, the book really just does what it says on the tin. Provides a brief, gossipy history of the great period of the country house weekend through the assorted writings of people who went to them, gave them, or worked at them.
The arrangement is nice, it takes you through the history in tandem with the progress of a weekend. So the early chapters are about the origins with queens and princes arriving on people's doorsteps in the Eighteenth century, and we end up with everyone going home on the eve of the second world war, and a final chapter about the fate of the houses and the hostesses afterward.
Entertaining, crisp and full of tiny titbits of information. Not at all comprehensive, but with plenty of leads to follow up.
February 7, 2020
“The House Party:...” was an interesting, but dry, look at what it was like to spend a weekend in one of the grand houses in England in the years between the two world wars. The book can be a little tedious, however, it has good insights into the politicking that occurred at these house parties and how the WWII war effort changed everything leading to the end of these weekends. Check it out if you are interested in the early twentieth century, society around the time of the two world wars, or English aristocratic, celebrity, or political history.
March 30, 2023
I found this book so funny, think listening to your favourite audible narrator reading any visitors book after a country weekend at a many roomed stately pile, each entry coming with a laugh out loud back history of comments, expenses, sports and passtimes.
This nobs being normal is a great over view of the exceptional English houses, money, people, responsibility and stupidity.
Thoroughly enjoyable collections of words Adrian Tinniswood, much appreciated. :-)
This nobs being normal is a great over view of the exceptional English houses, money, people, responsibility and stupidity.
Thoroughly enjoyable collections of words Adrian Tinniswood, much appreciated. :-)
June 16, 2020
Short little book telling some of the history of the House party - how it originated etc mixed in with a healthy dose of slightly gossipy anecdotes from some of the major country houses such as Polesden Lacey and Cliveden. Read around this topic before but for being a slim book it certainly is packed with tons of information.
June 8, 2021
An enjoyable, once-over-lightly look at the extravagance of pre-war House Parties in the UK. Made me want to mount a revolution against the landed classes, so perhaps it's a good thing it was a short read that was light on detail...
December 23, 2019
Downton Abbey du jour!
April 2, 2020
I found this to be a fun diversion over a couple of evenings. Easy going, brief and I enjoyed the glimpse into a world I wish I could have experienced myself.
April 4, 2020
A short-ish history of the English country house party with a focus on fun, frivolities, scandal and snobbery of the privileged classes. Where's Oscar Wilde?
April 30, 2021
Some entertaining anecdotes.
There are but a few instances in the book, but why do authors who know better acquiesce to publishers' popularizing of bad grammar?
There are but a few instances in the book, but why do authors who know better acquiesce to publishers' popularizing of bad grammar?
October 15, 2021
Not a deep dive into Country House history but contains amusing and interesting anecdotes and gives you a taste of life for the ‘ton’ between the wars.
May 23, 2022
Lovely, quick history, full of facts and anecdotes..
January 9, 2023
so atmospheric, it was a lovely closer look into the downton-esque world that just doesn’t exist anymore. i actually felt sad at the end since it seemed like such loss.
March 13, 2023
Intresting if a bit surface level and unreflective.
December 21, 2020
The Downton Abbey of the upper class in Britain getting more relaxed by the fireplace.
May 25, 2021
This was an interesting read and I quite enjoyed it. Some good moments throughout that made me smile.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews