I absolutely love books like Juliet Nicolson's The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before the Storm, which I read as part of my TBR Pile Challenge for 2016. It had the right mix of social history and political history, upstairs/downstairs, royalty and abject poverty, urban and rural. It chronicled May to September of 1911 and it provided an excellent way to really get a feel for the times, the issues, and the mood of England in particular, and Europe, by extension.
The summer of 1911 in England was hot. There were endless days of over 90 degree weather, with a few that topped 100 degrees, with little or no rain. It was the summer of the coronation of George V, whose father Edward VII, for who the Edwardians took their label, had died the year before. It was the time when Nijinsky danced for England, Rupert Brooke finished his first book of poems, and dock workers throughout the ports of England struck for higher wages and better working conditions. Their wives, the jam makers, also struck, in their Sunday best.
The author is the granddaughter of Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicolson, and daughter of Nigel Nicolson, and it was fun to spot the times when she used family correspondence in her research.
Despite a decent number of illustrations, I found myself having to read with my iPad close at hand to look up images and people and events as I read.
I don't remember exactly who recommended this book to me--a wonderful book blogger out in the blogosphere--but I can highly recommend it, especially if you were devoted to Downton Abbey. In fact, I got the feeling that Julian Fellowes must have read it as part of his research. There is a good bit in the section on domestic service that worked its way into the script of the show over the years.
So glad you liked this book! I did too. I read it for our LitCollective a couple of years ago, along with a group of books about the era surrounding the First World War. I may have recommended it to you, but I'm probably not the only one. It was impeccably written and really conjured up the period. The Nicolson connection certainly added to my interest and it seems she continues the family tradition of well-researched elegantly written books.
ReplyDeleteI could imagine that uncommonly hot summer in England, having been there once when temps stayed above 95 for several days. Air conditioners broke under the strain and it was sweltering! It was such a good metaphor in the book for the situation in pre-war Europe heating up in 1911, but people being unaware of it.
I will enthusiastically give you credit for the recommendation, Lucy. I've never been to England when it was anything other than cool and rainy, but reading about people in wool uniforms in 90+ weather almost made me pass out myself.
DeleteThis sounds fascinating. I enjoy social history books and will have to find a copy of this. That sounds like quite a heatwave for England!
ReplyDeleteI like books that capture moments in time, too. This sounds like a very fascinating and fun read. Thanks for reviewing it! I'll be adding it to my TBR list shortly. :)
ReplyDeleteI have this on my kindle (picked it up as a daily deal a while ago) and it sounds like my kind of book! Wonder if I can fit it into Nonfiction November...
ReplyDeleteIt's very readable and moves along quickly.
DeleteI loved this book too when I read it in 2009.
ReplyDeleteWhen I finished reading it I decided that the summer of 1911 was not “the perfect summer”. It was one of the hottest years of the twentieth century, making life most uncomfortable and it was also a summer of discontent as the country was almost brought to a standstill by industrial strikes and the enormous gap between the privileged and the poor was becoming more and more obvious. And for me this book was at its best in describing the minutiae of everyday life of both the rich and the poor.
A really fascinating book.
I agree--the details about everyday life made the book extraordinary.
DeleteI guess life had more promise then before WW I. Too bad it all went south.
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