{"product_id":"enthusiasms-9780711233294","title":"Enthusiasms","description":"\u003cp\u003eDoes a neglected masterpiece by Jane Austen enshrine her first love affair? Who was Vita Sackville Wests real grandfather? What clues are there to the identity of Walter  doyen of Victorian pornographers? When and why did P.G. Wodehouse mutate from hack to genius? Was Oscar Wilde really down and out in Paris? Was Brideshead really Madresfield?  These and other excursions into literary or social history have developed out of Mark Girouards spare time enthusiasms  as diversions from his main occupation as an architectural historian. In nine essays he calls attention to points that have not been noticed before  corrects fallacies that have got into general circulation  suggests  identifies  redates  refutes  or pours a little cold water on unjustified romanticisms. Three further essays sample another enthusiasm  his own family background  and introduce characters such as the dwarf who had to stand on a bench to address the South African Parliament  the colonial governor who fell in love with his niece  and the dowager duchess with whom he spent his childhood on the edge of the park at Chatsworth.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67930114752565,"sku":"ByrdShop_0711233292","price":101.17,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780711233294.jpg?v=1794205584","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/enthusiasms-9780711233294","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}