Country Houses of Sir John Vanbrugh: from the Archives of Country Life, to be published by Aurum Press in November 2008.

The Country Houses of Sir John Vanbrugh (Aurum Press) to be published this coming October, is a collection of essays devoted to the life and major works of Sir John Vanbrugh, including Castle Howard, in Yorkshire and Blenheim in Oxfordshire, illustrated with around 150 pictures drawn from the Country Life archive, taken by leading photographers taken over the past 110 years. In this book I try to show the aesthetic range and complexity of Vanbrugh’s houses in all their glory, and to make their stories as clear as possible, by using many quotes from Vanbrugh’s own vivacious letters to friends and patrons. Other houses featured include Seaton Delaval Hall, Grismthorpe Castle, Kimbolton Castle and the landscape gardens at Stowe.