Country House Secrets: Behind Closed Doors by Ruth Binney

With a foreword by Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey, this is a look behind the scenes of the great English country house. An entertaining and intimate guide to that self-contained world, it reveals the rules of etiquette essential both upstairs and down - for both residents and visitors. Readers can marvel at the intricacies of housekeeping, and enter a bygone age of hunts, house parties and grand balls. It also provides an informative list of houses to visit, stressing the features that relate directly to the descriptions included in the book.