The Spencers: A Personal History of an English Family

Rating:
Summary: A Family of Humans
Review: What impressed me the most about this book (hence the reason for my review's title) was Charles Spencers' claim that he would write the truth about his ancestors, warts and all. This he succeeded in doing admirably, for the story that followed kept me fascinated in its very history but also in its author's great gift for storytelling, which, to me, is the greatest way to determine whether someone is really a good writer or not. I was naturally amused at the end of the book when Mr. Spencer decided not to publish the details of his recent family's lives, saying that a modicum of privacy was indicated. However, he didn't mind at all "dishing the dirt" on those who came before. That said, Mr. Spencer, or Earl Spencer as he is styled in Great Britain, tells a fascinating story of a family that, rotters and saints, actually helped shape a nation. As I acknowledged before, the author tells an interesting story in a very interesting way. The author also impressed me with an amazing sense of continuity, considering he included collateral branches of his family into the narrative that somehow didn't detract from the rest of the book. Kudos to Charles Spencer for giving us a fascinating history lesson.