Inheriting The Earth: The Long family's 500 year reign in Wiltshire is a new book written by Cheryl Nicol and published by Hobnob Press.
From the back cover:
Described by the BBC in 2011 as ‘one of the most powerful dynasties in England’, the Long family of Wiltshire derived enormous power and prestige from land ownership.
They were empire-builders, fiercely ambitious opportunists, maintaining their position as Wiltshire’s administrative and political backbone for half a millennium.
Taking a prominent role throughout the turbulent reigns of the Tudors and Stuarts their ‘trusty and welbeloved’ knights were handsomely rewarded by Henry VIII, but there was no love lost between Charles I and Sir Walter Long, imprisoned in the Tower for his role in the most infamous event in Parliament’s history.
The Longs endured despite a family curse, a bitter feud, murder, civil war, treasonous plots and the biggest scandal of the Georgian era. One hundred years later their empire was little more than a crumbling ruin.
Spanning five centuries, more than a dozen monarchs and a revolution in land ownership, Inheriting the Earth explores the forces and characters that shaped and ultimately vanquished a once powerful dynasty.
Available on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1906978379 and other online booksellers. ISBN 978-1-906978-37-2
