Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox 1740-1832

I enjoy history and majored in it, but so many history books are so "factual" that they can become dry which is why I think most people don't think studying history can be interesting or enjoyable. "Aristocrats" gives an intimate portrait of the Lennox Family--their lifestyle, loves, losses, disappointments, intrigues and the politics and social customs of the day and how they began to evolve over the mid-18th to early 19th centuries. I saw the PBS/BBC miniseries first, and that made me interested to read the book. The book does not disappoint. Much of Ms. Tillyard's narrative comes straight from the Lennox Family letters themselves, and to me, that makes for the most interesting history of all since it's told straight from the perspective of the person who lived it. Ms. Tillyard's writing style for the rest of the narrative is very readable for the casual student of history, but yet one can tell she has done her research. She gives a good overview of her sources without burdening the casual reader with lots of footnotes or endnotes though a good student of history will be able to follow her scholarship.

I purchased this book after watching “The Aristocrats” DVD which I throughly enjoyed. Wanted to know more about the Lennox sisters and more details of their life stories. This book is fascinating and very descriptive, with many pictures, portraits of these fascinating people. I have just started skimming it, and it’s a large book, but I will try to get through it slowly as I read mostly at bedtime, but I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in history and the Lennox sister’s lives.

This is a wonderful book. I tells of the intimate lives of the four Lennox sisters and their extended family. As the author says, it is "a rich medley of commonplace events" in the lives of these four girls besides the history of that period which is so interesting. These girls were the great-granddaughters of King Charles II from his illegitimate son, the first Duke of Richmond. This is an accurate account of the lives of the Lennox family and others sharing the same history. It is not historical fiction though the author does admit to making some inferences. Most of the information comes from letters written by these four sisters.

I saw the mini series on Amazon Prime Video and wanted to learn more about this family and time period. The book offers so much insight into the way Aristocrats ran their large households, traveled locally and abroad and how they chose to decorate their houses. It also offers an intimate look into the Lennox sister's relationship (Good and the Bad).If you liked the mini series, this is a must have.

I love this book. For it's size and story I would consider it an easy and enjoyable read. This book is the true life story of the Lennox sisters. This story is beautifully put together by Stella Tillyard who compiled the sisters' letters to piece their lives together. Although the sisters lived a life considered ordinary for aristocrats, their life was anything but ordinary. Two elope, one was the object of a King and one extended family member led the Irish revolution. This story is almost too good to be true, but it's amazingly true

Rather than a story written by an author, this is really a Chronology of Letters written between family members and outsiders. It is still interesting, but didn't care for the format.

Have started reading this book and find that it moves right along and is very well written. I am looking forward to finishing it and then seeing the dvids. Lots of nice geneological charts. Hurray

This book is wonderful both for its historical information and the characters and events it described. I bought it because I saw The Aristocrats a mini series by PBS, and the book was fabulous.

Book is in very good condition, as described

One of the best historical books I've ever read. Often it reads like a novel, yet is not historical fiction by any stretch - meticulously researched with an extraordinary source of the letters of these four sisters. Expertly woven into the affairs of state, court, England, Ireland and Europe at the time. Magnificent.

well written , good read