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The Verneys: Love, War and Madness in Seventeenth-century England

Author: Adrian Tinniswood
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book

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Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

2 reviews
Sales Rank: 11720

Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.6

ISBN: 1844134148
EAN: 9781844134144
ASIN: 1844134148

Publication Date: April 3, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book dispatched from stock in the UK

Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - The Verneys: A True Story of Love, War and Madness in Seventeenth-century England
•	Paperback - The Verneys: A True Story of Love, War, and Madness in Seventeenth-Century England

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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

Compelling history! April 14, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is history at its best - it's readable, compelling and thoroughly enjoyable. Tinniswood's book achieves many goals in one - a fascinating social history, meticulous biography, powerful family saga, and not least it is a really good and engaging read.

The tale begins with Sir Francis Verney who ran away from his teenage wife in 1608, sold off much of the Verney property, converted to Islam and became one of the most feared pirates on the Barbary Coast. Carry on to read about Bess, who ran off with a clergyman; Cary, a heavy gambler, and Henry who was obsessed with horse racing; not to mention those involved in the English Civil War; Mall, who became pregnant out of marriage, or one of the later relatives who was hanged at Tyburn. A really good and compelling portrait of seventeenth-century England, and especially the Verney family. The history is based predominantly on the extensive records of the Verneys, particularly hundreds of letters kept by Sir Ralph Verney (1613-96) who presided over Claydon House in Buckinghamshire for over 50 years.

5 out of 5 stars

Stuart era soap opera October 29, 2007
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

Adrian has taken the collected letters of the Verneys and turned them into a fascinating story of life in the Civil War and Restoration. The Verney family characters are all uniquely human with frailties and aspirations that are recognisable today, especially in how Sir Ralph Verney tries to maintain the family fortunes, have his sons shoulder responsibilities and marry well with large dowries. The women are not in the background and show how they rebel to the strictures placed on them by society.

Adrian's own views stay in the background except for some, for him, shocking revelations as to personal conduct. Its a surprisingly readable page turning insight into how an aristocratic family copes with being torn apart by the Civil War, with parallel in today's world