英國莊園高貴優雅、宏偉幽深之美，即使於外國人而言，也早已透過大量文學及影視作品深植人心。社會文化、建築歷史學家Adrian Tinniswood聚焦兩次世界大戰之間的英國莊園生活，隨著日不落國的盛世緩緩西沉，上千座壯觀大宅門前草地的暗影也越拉越長，改變在門廳悄然迴響。作者同時試圖挑戰傳統論點，說明莊園文化在二次大戰期間並非墜入不復返的衰敗。

1920到1930年代之間的莊園生活，時而舖張時而平凡，時而高尚時而陰險，暗影比以往更深。《漫長的週末》（The Long Weekend）援引數百部回憶錄、未發表的信件與日記，以及衣冠堂堂的貴族、抑鬱的女繼承人與跋扈管家的目擊證詞，揭開這段或被遺忘，或裹上傳奇色彩，或隱沒在高傲的微笑與緘默背後的精彩歷史，將英國莊園文化的興衰活靈活現呈現在讀者面前。

隨著房地產稅與其他改變發生，不少莊園主人被迫求售房產，同時，在英格蘭鄉間擁有一幢大宅的美夢光環，吸引了許多英國與美國社會新貴。作者深入幾個傳奇家族的陰謀，透過舉辦狩獵聚會與誤會吸引像是卓別林、TE勞倫斯這樣的人。讀者將在貴族宴會上目睹上流社會如何竭盡心力逃避上漲的水手與沒教養的外來者、投資客，洞察新舊權貴間緊張的社會關係，以及莊園上層或下層的成員如何小心翼翼地守護莊園的形象。《漫長的週末》窺見了大莊園背後比夢更引人入勝的真實。

Adrian Tinniswood is the author of fourteen books of social and architectural history. His book The Verneys was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. A Senior Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham and a Visiting Fellow in Heritage and History at Bath Spa University, he has worked for and with the National Trust at local, regional and national level for more than thirty years.

He has made a number of appearances on British television, most recently on Channel4’s new series of drama documentaries, Bloody Foreigners, and has contributed to Lucinda Lambton’s Elevations and Revelations, Start the Week, Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time (all BBC Radio 4), and the arts programme Nightwaves (BBC Radio 3).

In 2013 he was awarded an OBE for services to heritage.