Sir Ernest George (1839-1922) was one of England's greatest architects of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He specialised in domestic work and was responsible for beautiful and imaginative houses in both town and country, and with his three successive partners, he carried out over 200 works both in Britain and abroad. He was also a watercolourist of considerable stature whose work in the medium was acclaimed in his own time. This richly illustrated book is the first study of the man and his work and will establish him as one of the major names in his profession. His life and career is fully documented, the buildings are described and a full catalogue of works is provided. A special feature is a study of pupils and assistants who passed through George's office, including several who went on to be famous and successful - Edwin Lutyens, Guy Dawber, J. J. Joass, R. Weir Schultz - and also the first woman to be become a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Ethel Mary Charles. Hilary Grainger is a dean at the London College of Fashion and is the recognised expert on George and his architecture. She is also a leading authority on the architecture of cremation and is the chair of the Victorian Society.

The Feet of Fines preserved in the Public Record Office are indispensable records for local, family and social historians. To the genealogist, Fines are especially helpful in giving the names of many estate owners' wives and families. The detailed introduction to the Records includes discussion of how the major landholding families such as de Vere, Rich, Radcliffe, Petre, Darcy and Mildmay were involved in property transactions including mortages owing to heavy debts, and how the merchants Thomas Sutton and Horatio Palavicino, as well as Elisabeth I's favourite the Earl of Leicester, were associated with Essex. The volume contains nearly 3,000 separate property transactions and 7,000 references to persons, with data on estates, large and small, in every Essex Parish and many in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. There are numerous items concerning commons, openfields, dovecotes, minor place-names, fisheries, sheepwalks, mills, parks and warrens, and an extensive subject index.