Best-selling author Adrian Tinniswood tells the histories of the legendary Guinness family of brewers, philanthropists, and socialites through their mansions and town houses. His tour opens the door to Irish palaces like Farmleigh (where the Edwardian ballroom is said to have a floor made from barrels brought from the brewery) and Luggala in the Wicklow Mountains. British houses featured include Elveden in Suffolk, the 17,000-acre estate bought by Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, in 1893 and Robert Adam's Kenwood on Hampstead Heath, which Lord Iveagh saved from destruction and bequeathed to the British nation.

Unraveling the stories of more than a dozen great Guinness houses, Tinniswood reveals what life was like for a dynasty that rose from ordinary beginnings in Georgian Dublin to become one of the most powerful families in the British Isles.

This engaging history is abundantly illustrated with archival photographs and paintings as well as specially commissioned photographs of the key properties.