The British Isles [antikvár]

Foreword Tourists visiting Britain are qffered an his toricaifeast, greaterand more varied than any other European country can afford. This is because ive have not been invaded since 1066, nor have we had the misfortune - at least since the days of Cromwell in 1649, or the flight of James U in 1688 - of resolving our government by resorting to revolution. Compare ourgoodfortune with that of our neighbours Francé or Germany, ravaged by the Thirty Years' War, the Wars of the Spanish Succession, the Napoleonic Wars and the two World Wars this century. And reflect on the destruction of the buildings and treasures of Francé by the revolutions of1789,1848 and so on. And one must add the subtlerpoint that our insularity has preserved our primogeniture system of inheritance from the inevitable dispersal offamily collections - and ofmany great castles and houses - which the Code Napoleon inflicted on Continentalfamilies. Why,for instance, did President de Gaulle have to refurbish Versailles and the Grand Trianon with any 19th century pieces he couldfind, or have copies specially made? Because the furniture of the Bourbons resided in the Wallace Collection, Waddesden, Boughton and Drumlanrig. We, by contrast, have an incredible number of manor houses, carefully cherished by squires whose families have lived in them for gmerations and we can, as a result, boast living, local museums of incomparable historical importance. Ofcourse, much superstitious clutter was destroyed during the Reformation, and at the hands of the Puritans, but at least theglorious medieval cathedrals and village churches were left standing. Alas, the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 destroyedfine abbeys and priories, and we are left to ponder their significance in medieval Britain by musing over the gaunt ruins, such as tloose of Fountains and Rievaulx. We have, admittedly, suffered by lack of space for our 56 millión population, but the tourist can still see how the Romans landed on the south and east coasts, and how,first using sea communications and later, having built their roads, such as Ermine Street and Watling Street, they pushed the riative Celts westwards to Wales and Cornwall and nortlnvards to the Laké District and Scotland. And if in the years to come, a Chinese tourist visíts us and boasts of his great Chin and Han Dynasties (200BC), or even the Shang and Hsian Dynasties (2,000 to 1,100BC), I hope he will visit Avebwy and Stonehenge and marvei at the results of the inhabitants of Bronzé Age Britain transporting the Bluestone pillars from the Prescelly Mountains in South Wales in the 17th century) BC! This large, beautifully presented volume provides a generous taste of Britain 's architectural heritage as well as a survey ofher coastal and inland beauty, and the warmth and vanety of her town and village life. Asyou enjoy its colourful contents, remember that much of what we see tóday owes its existence and appearance to the events and philosophies ofmany centuries ofcontinuous social development. Miles, 17 th Duke of Norfolk