Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty by Catherine Bailey

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For 200 years it was the seat of the Earls Fitzwilliam, some of the wealthiest people in Europe, surrounded by some of the poorest: the 115,000 miners in their employ.

Bailey's breathless blockbuster dutifully draws attention to the disparity, but it's posh gossip that's her passion: the alleged illegitimacy of the 7th Earl, Billy, the affair between his son, Peter, and JFK's sister.

It's a great soapy read, a triumph of research - the 10th Earl burned 16 tons of family documents - just begging for the mini-series treatment.

Synopsis from Foyles.co.uk

Wentworth is in Yorkshire and was surrounded by 70 collieries employing tens of thousands of men. It is the finest and largest Georgian house in Britain and belonged to the Fitzwilliam family. It is England's forgotten palace which belonged to Britain's richest aristocrats. "Black Diamonds" tells the story of its demise: family feuds, forbidden love, class war, and a tragic and violent death played their part. But coal, one of the most emotive issues in twentieth century British politics, lies at its heart. This is the extraordinary story of how the fabric of English society shifted beyond recognition in fifty turbulent years in the twentieth century.