"The real story of Blenheim lies with my family who have lived in it for the past 300 years, and theirs is a story as turbulent, fascinating and momentous as the conflicts that surrounded its origins" -Henrietta Spencer-Churchill

Blenheim and the Churchill Family is a new book and a rare personal insight into Henrietta Spencer Churchill's family home Blenheim Palace. Packed full of private photographs, paintings, letters and correspondence, much never seen before, this book provides a unique record of what it was like to live at Blenheim over the years and is the inside story of one of Britain's greatest houses.

Beginning with the rags to riches rise of John Churchill, the only man ever to be born a commoner and end up a duke, and his charismatic but quarrelsome wife, Sarah, we learn how John's military brilliance and his wife's passionate relationship with the monarch, Queen Anne, created one of Europe's most important pieces of architecture.

With designers and craftsmen such as Vanbrugh, Hawksmoore and Grinling Gibbons involved in the building of Blenheim Palace along with the 4th Duke's commission of Capability Brown to design the renowned and celebrated view of parkland and lake, Blenheim and the Churchill Family records anecdotes, gossip and intrigue both above and below stairs. Renowned as Winston Churchill's birthplace, Henrietta reveals his love of Blenheim and tells the story of the family today. Published to celebrate 300 years since the first stone was laid.

Pub Date: October 6th, 2005
Price: £30.00, hardback
Imprint: Cico Books
Title: Blenheim and the Churchill Family
Author: Henrietta Spencer-Churchill
ISBN: 1904991149

To order a copy, please click here or call 01892 839805 quoting CC162 to purchase a copy at the special price of £25.00 including free p&p.