Product Description

The summer of 1911 was one of the high sunlit meadows of English history but on the horizon lurked a gathering storm.

A new king was on the throne and the aristocracy were at play. Yet, as temperatures soared, cracks appeared under the surface with strikes, class divisions and the seeds of war to come. Through the eyes of a series of exceptional individuals – among them a debutante, a choirboy, a politician, a trade unionist, a butler and the Queen – Juliet Nicolson illuminates a turning point in history.

(20060603)

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3170 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review

‘An accomplished and engaging piece of social history’

(Daily Telegraph 20060603)

‘[Nicolson] sweeps across voices and classes to assemble a mosaic of sunlit impressions’

(Independent: Boyd Tonkin 20060618)

Listed as number three of six in the ‘Bookseller’s Chart’ by Phoebe Bentick of Henry Stokes & Co.

(The Times 20060617)

‘With the gifts of a great storyteller, [Nicolson] rekindles a vision of a time when the sun shone, but cast long shadows.’

(Waterstone’s Books Quarterly 20060617)

"Nicolson on swimwear from Victorian times through Brigitte Bardot to today. "

(The Spectator 20060531)

‘Juliet Nicolson has taken this “perfect summer” as the backdrop for an ambitious work of multiple biography, which sets the extravagance of the upper classes against the increasingly desperate lives of the poor.’

(Observer 20060521)

‘I wanted to evoke the full vivid richness of how it smelt, looked, sounded, tasted and felt to be alive in England during the months of such a summer’

(The Lady 20060521)

‘Juliet Nicolson does not pretend to offer a close political analysis, but rather a thoroughly entertaining portrait of the period, full of memorable detail’

(The Spectator 20060512)

‘There is an unpretentious directness about Nicolson’s approach to her subjects that gives the book a freshness and vitality. Happily, she also has an eye for the amusing or the ironic.’

(The Scotsman, Rachel Billington 20060515)

 ‘A fascinating read... I did indeed feel transported’

(Mail on Sunday: Antonia Fraser 20060601)

‘Hugely interesting... It’s also – and this is a compliment – as page-turning as a novel’

(Guardian Holiday Read Choice: Joanna Trollope 20060501)

‘Nicolson writes with grace and humour’

(Guardian Holiday Read Choice: Antonia Fraser 20060630)

‘A charming mix of gossip column, commonplace book and popular history, sure to delight readers for many summers to come.’

 

(International Express: Michael Arditti 20061001)

‘Elegant and witty ... an enjoyable read without pretensions from a rather well-connected writer’

(Jad Adams, Sunday Telegraph / Seven 20061001)

‘Nicolson conjures a moment when the unchanged rituals of English existence began to collide with modern life’

(Olivia Laing, Observer 20061001)

‘She cuts a slice through Edwardian life at the end of the Edwardian age to create a richly atmospheric read’

(Kate Chisholm, Daily Mail 20061001)

‘Nicolson has pulled together many strands in a graceful evocation of one particularly long summer’

(Evening Standard 20061001)

‘Entertaining and informative, it’s packed with unforgettable characters and vivid descriptions’

(Sainsbury’s Magazine 20061001)

‘This is a peach of a book. It is full of good things, sparkling, elegant and often funny’

(Jane Ridley, Literary Review )

‘Society history written with skill, a sharp eye and a sense of humour’

(TLS, Susie Harries )

‘A clever, insightful and ultimately moving account'

(BBC History )

‘A tiny chapter of English history ... a perfect lightness of touch’

(Katie Law, Evening Standard )

‘Elegantly poignant ... Nicolson has an eye for prescient anecdotes’

 

(Ruth Scurr,The Times )

A wonderfully evocative portrait of english society on the brink of a new world order. Full of brilliant vignettes of the people and the pleasures that distracted them. Juliet Nicolson has invented a new kind of social history.

(Tina Brown )

'Rich and marvellously researched'

(Barry Humphries )

‘A cleverly crafted story of the hot, frenetic summer of 1911 which works because of the sparkling writing’

(Jane Ridley, Literary Review )

About the Author
Juliet Nicolson is a writer and journalist: she has written for the Daily Telegraph, Vogue, the London Evening Standard, Tatler and the Guardian, amongst others. She was also the editor of the memoirs of Lady Annabel Goldsmith. She read English at the University of Oxford and has worked in publishing in both the UK and the States. The Perfect Summer is Juliet’s first book, and draws on a vast range of archive material from sources both intimate and rarely-seen. She is the President of the Kent Branch of the Jane Austen Society, has two daughters and lives in London and Kent. (20060501)

---

Customer Reviews

A beautiful read
This is a fascinating, highly readable and wonderfully written book which takes you back to the year 1911 through the lives of some of the most prominent and interesting characters of the time. They range from Lady Diana Manners "the most beautiful young woman in England in 1911" to Lord Curzon, ex viceroy of England; from feisty union leader Mary Macarthur to cynical butler Eric Horne. The book truly succeeds in recreating the atmosphere of the time without indulging in futile nostalgia (in fact, it delves quite deeply into the social turmoil of the period) and it offers the same fast pace and intensity of a good novel while being based on "real" people and events.

When I read it, I was unaware that Juliet Nicolson was the granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West and was therefore completely unbiased in my appreciation of the work. I kept, however, noticing a certain intimate feeling affecting the narration, as if the author had had a first-hand, personal experience of the times. In retrospect, her family heritage might have helped her in powerfully recreating the mood of the time. The book also appears to be in some form of dialogue with Sackville-West's The Ewardians, a novel which ends in 1911with the coronation of George V, precisely when Nicolson begins her Perfect Summer (which, incidentally, appears to be everything but perfect). It would be a good idea to read the two novels together.
If I had to find a fault, I would probably say that, at times, the huge amount of citations (which are, of course, also valuable and necessary) seem to "smother" the narration a bit. Nicolson should certainly have believed more in her own voice.
In spite of this, it is a great read.

I would highly recommend this book to anybody who is interested in Edwardian and Georgian history or literature, who loves impeccable prose (Nicolson's writing is actually more polished than her grandmother's) and is in search of something intellectually engaging without being overwhelming.

Beautiful but flawed
I've long been captivated by the glamour and elegance of the all-too-brief Edwardian Era and have often felt that the freakishly hot summer of 1911 would make a wonderful subject for a writer or film-maker - quite apart from the extreme heat, this was also a time of extraordinary social, political and cultural ferment. So I approached this book with a larger than average degree of interest - which was not, at the conclusion, completely satisfied.

Whilst the story of those sun-drenched months could never make for boring reading, and although I generally approve of Nicolson's method of focussing her tale through the eyes of certain key individuals, I feel that she tries a little too hard to cover a vast and unwieldy terrain - the result is an essentially light-weight book, plagued by sloppy editing and glaring inaccuracies. The note of doom (the Great War was only three years away) is sounded rather too often, with the author frequently using hindsight to interpret the actions of her protagonists. Although I myself could cope with this continual intrusion, some readers might find it grating.

The main value and interest of the book lies in Nicolson's provision of delightful, idiosyncratic details of parties and amusements (not just for 'Society' but for all classes) garnered from the contemporary press and gossip columns. On this level, I'd say that 'The Perfect Summer' is a wonderful companion for hours on the beach or in a sunny garden. 'Serious' historians are probably better advised to steer clear.

It was a perfect summer for some
There are two periods in English history that romance writers like to write about. The Regency and the Edwardian period. And this is odd for both periods were rather nasty. But there it is, they write, we read.
This is the best book for romance readers about the Edwardian period I have read (OK, so it is a year late). It details the going ons in the carefree upper crust, but also the conditions in the working classes with the emphasis on the London dock strike in 1911.
Other useful books for romance readers:
Barbara W. Tuchman: The Proud Tower
Peter Stansky and George Dangerfield: The Strange Death of Liberal England
Robert K. Massie: Dreadnought