The houses covered here include spectacular mansions such as Petworth House and Waddesdon Manor, and more lowly dwellings such as the Birmingham Back to Backs and estate villages like Blaise Hamlet, near Bristol. The book also covers buildings as diverse as churches, windmills, dovecotes, castles, follies, barns and even pubs. Every period of the country's architectural history is covered, from the medieval stronghold of Bodiam Castle to the clean-lined Modernism of The Homewood. The book teems with stories of the people who lived and worked in these buildings: wealthy collectors (Charles Wade at Snowshill), captains of industry (William Armstrong at Cragside), prime ministers (Winston Churchill at Chartwell) and pop stars (John Lennon at Mendips). This is an essential guide to the built heritage of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.