Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle (Copy 2).

HARDBACK, SHIPPED FROM THE UK* Edn: 1st.* Imp: 1st.* Date of Publication: 2011* Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton.* Binding and cover condition: Blue cloth, gilt title to spine. No bumps or rubs, absolutely minimal shelf wear. Very slight marks to lower rear board. VG+* Jacket condition: Colour photo-illustrated dust wrapper, gilt titles to spine and face. NOT PRICE CLIPPED, showing a shelf price of £19.99. Absolutely minimal shelf wear to top edges and to head of spine. A small amount of damp staining to rear inside lower edge. Now in clear protective wrapper. VG+* Contents condition: PRIVATE COPY NOT EX-LIBRARY. Clean, crisp, tight and bright with no reading wear, no marks to text, very slight age to top and fore-edge, otherwise no visible faults. VG++.* Illustrations: Four 8pp. blocks of colour & monochrome photos, b/w photo vignettes to chapter headings throughout.* Pages: 292 pp. text. xix pp., acknowledgements, bibliography & index at rear.* Description: Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Almina was the illegitimate daughter of banking tycoon Alfred de Rothschild. She was his only daughter and he doted on her. She married the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, at 19, with an enormous dowry. At first, life at Highclere was a dizzying mix of sumptuous banquets for 500 and even the occasional royal visitor. But when the First World War broke out, life at Highclere changed forever. History intervened and Almina and the staff of Highclere were thrown into one of the most turbulent times of the last century. Almina was forced to draw on her deepest reserves of courage in order to ensure her family, the staff and the castle survived..* A NEAR FINE text copy of the 1st/1st. with some minimal faults in a VG+ protected dust jacket.*