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The Old Rectory for sale in a village up the road from Jane Austen's home, where the family lived that might have inspired some of her most memorable characters
In the village of Dummer, close to Jane Austen's family home at Steventon, a beautiful old rectory has cone to the market. Penny Churchill takes a look.
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Books: In the Footsteps of the Great Artists and the Life and Work of Sir Lawrence Weaver
Michael 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.
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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 poems
Artist 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.
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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 Tales
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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.
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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.
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A new rose named after The Princess of Wales highlights our near-universal obsession with the flower
No flower is more entwined with myth, religion, politics and the human form than the humble rose.
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'To exist in this world relies on the hands of others': Roger Powell and modern British bookbinding
An 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.
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Why size doesn't matter if you've got some decorating derring-do
A small space can be just as appealing as a large one — as long as you decorate with confidence, says a new book.
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Dawn Chorus: How to travel around the world in 19 flowers and the Mini Moke that took St Moritz by storm
What do Charles Dickens, Henry VIII and Ellen Willmott all have in common? They all appear in a new book chronicling 19 flowers and the people responsible for bringing them to the UK. Find out how to get your hands on it, plus, we reveal why a rare Beach Boys-inspired Mini Moke turned up in a Swiss ski resort and a few of India Knight’s favourite things.
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When London was beginning to establish itself as modern cultural powerhouse: The 1980s according to David Bailey
In 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.
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The life and times of P. G. Wodehouse, 50 years on from his death
Bertie 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.
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Prophet, playboy, and provocateur: How meeting Peter Beard changed my life
Peter 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.
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How to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen
2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth. Here are exhibitions, events and more — happening across the UK — that mark the occasion.
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Unputdownable: 12 page turners to see you through the rest of the winter
From cookbooks to cricket, biographies to Sunday Times bestsellers, Country Life contributors name some of their favourite books from last year.
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The 12 architecture books you should read in 2025, by our architectural editor John Goodall
John Goodall assembles a shortlist of his favourite architecture books published recently.
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The story of how 007 creator Ian Fleming came to write Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang
Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, our fine four-fendered friend, turns 60 on October 22nd. Mary Miers relives the adventures of the magical flying car and reveals the little-known story of its creation by Ian Fleming, as the writer turned his attention from the world of 007 to a children's tale.
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'It may be vain to think that the past was a cleaner, quieter and kinder place, but it felt pretty decent when you knew your GP and your GP knew you, and milk in glass bottles was delivered every morning'
Carla Carlisle is homesick for the olden days, when we didn’t know we had it so good.
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Poems about pies, the foul-mouthed parrot upstaging Margaret Atwood and starting World War III via Desert Island Discs: Ian McMillan on the Country Life Podcast
Poet, broadcaster and writer Ian McMillan joins the Country Life Podcast.
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The 'holy grail' of JRR Tolkien's letters are up for sale, showing his anger at his editors and the 'priggery' of Sherlock Holmes
Bayliss Books are selling the biggest collection of Tolkien first editions and personal letters to come up for sale in twenty years. Annunciata Elwes takes a look.
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'The Swiss Army Knife of foods': Untangling the truth and lies around milk
Milk's reputation has seen plenty of ups and downs in recent years, but the farmer, chef and writer Matthew Evans is trying to put the record straight. Scottish farmer — and regular Country Life columnist — Jamie Blackett takes a look at Evans's new book, 'Milk: The truth, the lies and the unbelievable story of the original superfood'.
