Striking aerial photographs combined with bird's-eye engravings from the 17th and 18th centuries give a unique insight into the history of English country houses and their pleasure grounds. The book details the struggles for power and prestige that inspired them, the daily life of the great families and their servants, and the dramatic changes wrought by fashion, fortune, time or progress. Thes stories behind each of the 40 houses are told with anecdotes and historical perspective. Research points out the connection between the lives of theowners and the alterations to house and garden as a result of the shifting sands of fortune.