At 24, Johnny Arkwright, grandson of the "richest commoner in Europe," inherits Hampton Court, Herefordshire, putting him among the elite of the world's most powerful nation. Yet those of his generation that seemed to inherit the earth were about to see their world disintegrate and disappear, as landowning entered its biggest shake-up since the Reformation. The 60 years of "champagne and shambles" between Johnny's 21st birthday in 1854 and World War I are brought vividly to life by Catherine Beale. She shows why so many of the country houses that we visit today have lost their occupants, and...