A treasure of observations of England and France in the 50's and 60's by an old-fashioned charming student of people and architecture. This site says it better than I can: James Lees-Milne was surely one of the greatest diarists of the century. As a key member of the fledgling National Trust, he spent years inspecting historic buildings offered by eccentric or impecunious owners to the NT and he recorded his observations in several volumes which bristle with wit, malice, gossip and (often scandalous) anecdote. Lees-Milne loved fine objects and weird people in equal measure and he wrote about both with unfailing grace and acuity.
http://www.johnsandoe.com/profile_Lees-Milne,.htm
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