Lions of the North: The Percys & Alnwick Castle. A thousand years of history - Softcover

Percy, Ralph

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1785511297 ISBN 13: 9781785511295

Publisher: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd, 2019

Synopsis

• Written by the Duke of Northumberland himself, featuring his own photography
• Personal stories of growing up at Alnwick Castle - roller skating through state rooms; ice-skating on the river; disobedient dogs who, along with water pistols and footballs, have left their mark(s) on the Castle's furnishings
• Many family connections with names and events well-known from literature and history, eg: Harry 'Hotspur', immortalised by Shakespeare, was the eldest son of the first Earl of Northumberland; As a young man, the 6th Earl had a love affair with Anne Boleyn; The brother of the 5th Duke of Northumberland was the first to bring the news of Napoleon's defeat to England

Lions of the North tells, from a unique and personal perspective, the stories of the Percy family and Alnwick Castle over a thousand years of British history. Generations of Percy barons, lords, earls and dukes played vital parts in great historical events, from the Norman Conquest to the two World Wars, and the castle, once battered by marauding armies, is now a major tourist attraction. The Duke has drawn on his unparalleled access to the Percy archives to paint this fascinating portrait of a British dynasty and its survival against the odds.

Contents:
Preface: Alnwick Castle before the Percys
Chapter 1: 1066-1294. After the Norman Conquest: the Percy's rise to power
Chapter 2: 1294-1368. The Percys come to Northumberland: the purchase of Alnwick Castle
Chapter 3: 1368-1489. Kingmakers and rebels: the first four Earls of Northumberland
Chapter 4: 1489-1585. The Tudor period: rise and fall, execution and murder
Chapter 5: 1585-1750. The Stuarts, plots and civil war: the last Earl
Chapter 6: 1750-1847. Percy restoration: the first Duke of Northumberland
Chapter 7: 1847-1918. Victorians and Edwardians: from the Great Exhibition to the Great War
Chapter 8: 1918-2018. The last 100 years: Alnwick in the modern world
Chapter 9: The Estate: gardens, parks and management

About this title

Review:

'The present volume... presents the family story for a wider audience, in clear sensible prose. It's a worthwhile and enjoyable chronicle.' --John Martin Robinson, Country Life

About the Author:

Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland, was born in Alnwick Castle. A keen historian and photographer, Lions of the North fulfils his ambition to update, expand and illustrate his grandfather's earlier history of the Percys and their castle.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1785511297
• ISBN 13: 9781785511295
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176