Curt DiCamillo’s new series of books uses the alphabet to frame a variety of material of interest to visitors to country houses. This first of three volumes, covering the letters A through H, dives into fascinating moments of British cultural history, from tea to bananas, from Canaletto to Agatha Christie, from porcelain to ghosts. With a foreword by the Duke of Buccleuch, the sparkling prose enlivens historic moments alongside beautiful illustrations of the art, architecture and interiors in which they occurred.