Books
The latest books breaking news, comments and features from Country Life
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The house where JM Barrie created Peter Pan is for sale, in one of the most unspoilt spots in the south of EnglandIn a wildly bucolic stretch of the Surrey Hills, JM Barrie's summer retreat — where the children of his family friends inspired the adventures of Peter Pan — has come to the market.
By Toby Keel Published
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The hand-written bibles handed down through centuries, in pride of place in a Welsh country house libraryAt Treberfydd House in Brecon, a magnificent hand-written bible has been handed down through the generations. John Goodall tells its story.
By John Goodall Published
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Borders, identity, and the truth about Cornish independence, with Richard CollettRichard Collett has spent years travelling Britain to discover what our borders say about us. He joins James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast.
By Toby Keel Published
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Justine Picardie: Fashion, spies and Elizabeth II's wardrobe, from timeless tweeds to a pair of MarigoldsJustine Picardie joins the Country Life Podcast.
By Toby Keel Published
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I absolutely hated 'Wuthering Heights', but the film sounds like fun — and so now I'm moving to one of these impossibly remote and romantic farmhousesEvery generation tells and re-tells the best stories, and the fresh treatment given to Emily Brontë's 1847 classic 'Wuthering Heights' will be enough to get even the strongest among us pining for the moors.
By Toby Keel Published
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'I first read this as a teenager and was open-mouthed at the sharp satire and the normalising of deep eccentricity': The books that the Country Life team return to again and again and againHave you made a resolution to read more in 2026? Members of the Country Life team reveal the fiction novels they've turned to time and time again.
By Rosie Paterson Published
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The Houses of Guinness: A real-life 'Succession' with privileged characters, living extravagant lifestyles 'and revelling in their extraordinary lives'The Guinness family has garnered more headlines, column inches and pages written about them than they've seen for many years. Adrian Tinniswood's book, centred on the country houses they built in the British Isles, is the best of the lot, says Timothy Mowl.
By Timothy Mowl Published
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'Real children like it… I think it frightens some adults, but very few children': 75 years of The Chronicles of NarniaAs C. S. Lewis’s enchanting children’s classic 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' turns 75, Matthew Dennison pulls back the coats to explore its evergreen spell.
By Matthew Dennison Published
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Books: In the Footsteps of the Great Artists and the Life and Work of Sir Lawrence WeaverMichael Prodger looks at Nick Trend's art-themed Italian travelogue, while John Goodall enjoys the biography of one of his predecessors in the role of architectural editor for Country Life.
By Michael Prodger Published
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'You have to work hand in hand with the author — like a dancer has to work with the music': Illustrating Homer's epic poemsArtist Clive Hicks-Jenkins, faced with the colossal challenge of illustrating Homer's 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey', eschewed grandstand views of monumental battles, looking instead for what he calls the little cracks in the paving stones.
By Carla Passino Published
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‘They remain, really, the property of all of those who love them, know them, and tell them. They are our stories, the inheritance of the people of Scotland’: The Anthology of Scottish Folk TalesBy Patrick Galbraith Last updated
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‘The perfect hostess, he called her’: A five minute guide to Virgina Woolf’s ‘Mrs Dalloway’To mark its centenary, Lotte Brundle delves into the lauded writer’s strange and poignant classic, set across a single summer’s day in 1920’s London.
By Lotte Brundle Published
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Simon Armitage: 'I've tried getting AI to write poems — and they've all been reassuringly awful'The poet laureate Simon Armitage joins the Country Life Podcast.
By Toby Keel Last updated
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A new rose named after The Princess of Wales highlights our near-universal obsession with the flowerNo flower is more entwined with myth, religion, politics and the human form than the humble rose.
By Amy de la Haye Last updated
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'To exist in this world relies on the hands of others': Roger Powell and modern British bookbindingAn exhibition on the legendary bookbinder Roger Powell reveals not only his great skill, but serves to reconnect us with the joy, power and importance of real craftsmanship.
By Hussein Kesvani Published
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The five minute guide to 'The Great Gatsby', a century on from its publication'The Great Gatsby' sold poorly the year it was published, but, in the following century, it went on to become a cornerstone of world literature.
By Carla Passino Published
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Why size doesn't matter if you've got some decorating derring-doA small space can be just as appealing as a large one — as long as you decorate with confidence, says a new book.
By Arabella Youens Published
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When London was beginning to establish itself as modern cultural powerhouse: The 1980s according to David BaileyIn his new book ‘Eighties Bailey’, ‘era-defining’ photographer David Bailey explores a time when London and the UK were at the centre of the fashion, art and publishing worlds.
By Richard MacKichan Published
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The life and times of P. G. Wodehouse, 50 years on from his deathBertie Wooster, Jeeves, Lord Emsworth and the Blandings Castle set: P. G. Wodehouse’s creations made him one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century, but he was denounced as a traitor and a Nazi.
By Roderick Easdale Published
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Prophet, playboy, and provocateur: How meeting Peter Beard changed my lifePeter Beard's dramatic, bloody artwork and drug-fuelled partying might've shocked American society, but is was 'desperately important' to his biographer who recounts meeting him, aged 78, at the artist and diarist's Montauk home.
By Christopher Wallace Published
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How to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth. Here are exhibitions, events and more — happening across the UK — that mark the occasion.
By Annunciata Elwes Published


