The mistresses of Cliveden

A beautiful book in all senses of the word. Natalie Livingstone takes the lives of some of the female inhabitants of Cliveden as the premise. This is not really a history of the house as such, although this does play a part. It is more like a social history of a group of really interesting women through different ages. The reader learns about their changing positions and how they influenced the lives of the monarchy and the governments at the time. Although this could hardly be called a short book, it doesn't feel that long as there seems to be just enough about each of the women described. I thought it seemed well researched, engagingly written with well chosen illustrations.