Simon Welfare

A good look at the lives of a Marquess and Marchioness of Aberdeen told through the lenses of the many houses they inhabited throughout their lives. Johnny and Ishbel were fabulously wealthy, but their compulsive building, buying, remodeling, and giving to various charitable enterprises saw the vast majority of that wealth disappear rather quickly.

Told by someone who has married into the family, this account can get a little dull with regard to some details. However, there are many tidbits show more that make this book well-worth picking up.

Interesting reading. show less

The book of the seminal Yorkshire TV series.

Arthur C. Clarke was a brilliant author and impressive academic, but even though it is very clear that he did not write this book nor the television series from which it was adapted, many people still consider him the author, much as people assume Alfred Hitchcock wrote the stories featured in the series Alfred Hitchcock Presents (in fact it was written by the shows writing staff, made up of dozens of professional writers including Robert Block, show more Ray Bradbury, and even Roald Dahl to name only a few). Arthur C. Clarke narrated an opening segment and closing epiogue from his home in Sri Lanka and his name added credibility to the project.
There is no Doubt however that the TV series and by virtue the book were hugely successful and sold in their millions. As another reviewer commented, and I can concur, it is one of the most common books to find in a charity shop, and practically every family in Britain has owned a copy of the book at one time or another. I have two! The book came in two formats a, not quite, coffee table book; and a slightly more slim-line, not quite, pocket book version.

Arthur C. Clarke's down to earth scepticism is a sobering conclusion to the often outlandish claims made throughout the series. The book is slightly less objective than the TV series was, appealing more to the occult book collector rather than someone who collects books on debunking mysteries, because from a sales point of view mysteries are more exciting and people would rather not hear the logical explanations anyway. show less

historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, historical-setting, family-dynamics, friendship, class-consciousness, social-issues, late-19th-century, early-20th-century, women's rights*****

Outstanding people with terrific ideas (which they did implement) but poor money management skills who left a lasting legacy for people on more than one continent. This is a very well researched and written history of the ideas and their implementation by highly motivated but show more spendthrift people which is unlikely to be repeated today. Despite the minutiae and the translation of money, this is a very readable book, not just in the nonfiction genre either! Excellent descriptions!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Atria Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, Inc. via NetGalley. Thank you to Raaga Rajagopala. show less

This was a book I read in my youth. I was a fan of Arthur Clarke by any means, and I found the discussions very insteresting, although with a tendency to turn things into fiction, although it's supposedly an investigative effort. But creating fiction is what Clarke best did anyway, and the fact that some of his creations later on became reality instigates our imagination today to pay careful attention to his explanation of those mysteries. I read the version in Brazilian Portuguese.