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The true story of how one man acquired and managed an English country estate, and lived to tell the tale—complete with illustrations by Annie Tempest, and perfect for all Downton Abbey viewers Bill Dorsey has written a light and amusing but heartfelt memoir about one of the few essentially original, historic English country estates remaining in private hands. His lifestyle is on the one hand idyllic, but the author is not a materialist, and in some ways the book is a gentle semi-morality tale. The subject and treatment appealed to Annie Tempest, who chose to put her famous "Tottering by Gently" stamp on it, by producing the jacket design and illustrating the text. It will not only appeal to the Downton viewers and Anglophiles, but also Country Life readers and those who love Annie Tempest’s characters and humor.

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Excerpt from The Old English Country Squire In his previous books the writer has sketched the characters of the Old-time Parson and the Parish Clerk, and he has thought it well to complete the Trilogy by a study of the Squire, the central figure of rustic life in each age and generation. He trusts that the numerous readers who have shown their interest in his previous portraits of old-world characters, will deign to scan the pleasing features of this "fine old English gentleman," admire his noble qualities, and find some amusement in his humorous whimsicalities and eccentricities. The race of squires is fast disappearing. Everywhere estates are being broken up and sold to the highest bidder, and the squire is compelled to leave the old manor-house which has sheltered him and his ancestors for many generations. Hence this book appears opportunely, and we are only just in time to catch a glimpse of the venerable gentleman before the auctioneer's hammer falls, and the last load of his old time-worn furniture is carted away. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.