Uncovering the secrets behind England's best known country houses and their unusual inhabitants. This is a lighthearted, witty but factual biographical account of the eccentric lifestyles of the builders and residents of one hundred of England's best-known country houses. Extraordinary buildings require extraordinary people, and over the centuries our historic houses have produced more than their fair share of oddballs. Insulated from the outside world by vast wealth, rolling acres and the social status that a title implies, aristocrats have always been able to amuse themselves - and now us - by pursuing idiosyncratic interests and manias to the point of eccentricity. Aimed squarely at the National Trust set, this lifts the lid on all that's bizarre, implausible, unthinkable and downright wacky about our glorious heritage homes and their unusual occupants. AUTHOR: Well-received by reviewers and readers alike, David Long's engaging, imaginative and well informed books reflect an unquenchable thirst for those events and personalities that illuminate the past. An author and writer since leaving university, his work has appeared in the Sunday Times, in countless magazines and London's Evening Standard. 47 b/w illustrations