Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd

THE IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER, NOW IN PAPERBACK. 'A brilliant, entertaining read.' - Irish TimesThe head of the Guinness family tells the dramatic true story of how his ancestors created the largest brewery in the world. Growing up at Farmleigh, the country house outside Dublin, Arthur Edward Guinness – Ned for short – was fascinated by the secrets and legends that surrounded the early generations of his famous family of brewers, who went from obscurity in Kildare to the pinnacle of Irish and British society. In this bestselling account, he explores the challenges faced by each generation, culminating in the dramatic events when his great-great-grandfather bought out his glamorous older brother and floated Guinness on the stock exchange. Overnight Edward Cecil Guinness became Ireland’s richest man. This is a tale in which brewing genius, sibling rivalry, bounteous philanthropy and astonishing social mobility are interwoven with historic national events, including the Act of Union, Catholic Emancipation, the Famine, the Home Rule movement, the Dublin Lockout and ultimately Irish independence. It is the inside story, as told by Ned Guinness. 'The definitive history of the Guinness brewing dynasty.' – Irish Independent'A fantastic book.' –The Business (RTÉ Radio 1)'Really, really fascinating. More than a family biography, it's a book that positions Guinness and its commercial story against the backdrop of a city.' – Donal Fallon

An entertaining new history of the Guinness family and their homes, told by our leading historian of the country house.In late 2025, the new Netflix epic ‘House of Guinness’, a saga of one of Europe’s most enduring dynasties, will sweep into households around the world. In The Houses of Guinness, bestselling author Adrian Tinniswood explores the histories of the legendary Guinness family – brewers, philanthropists, socialites – through their mansions and town houses. His tour opens the door to Irish palaces like Farmleigh (where the Edwardian ballroom is said to have a floor made from barrels brought from the brewery) and Luggala in the Wicklow Mountains, and to Biddesden, an exquisite William-and-Mary country house bought as a home for Bryan Guinness and his first wife Diana Mitford, and Robert Adam’s Kenwood on Hampstead Heath, which Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh saved from destruction and bequeathed to the British nation.Unravelling the stories of more than a dozen great Guinness houses, Tinniswood reveals what life was like for a dynasty that rose from ordinary beginnings in Georgian Dublin to become one of the most powerful families in the British Isles. This engaging history is abundantly illustrated with a selection of new and archival photographs and paintings.''Tinniswood … [is] an erudite historian of country-house life in all its anecdote-worthy vagaries'' Financial Times''We are in the company of a confident and skilled historian who understands the mores of his era and wears his learning lightly …'' Virginia Nicholson, The Times

The head of the Guinness family tells the true story of how his ancestors created the largest brewery in the world.In this narrative non-fiction book, Arthur Edward Guinness, the 4th Earl of Iveagh and head of the Guinness family tells, for the first time, the inside story of how the first four generations of Guinnesses, starting from humble origins in Ireland, created the world’s largest brewery and perhaps the most iconic beer ever. Drawing on family archives, he explores the contrasting personalities of his forebears, reveals the dramatic story of the Guinness family succession in the Victorian era, and explains how they made a difference in Ireland, Britain and far beyond.This is the true story of one of the great families of Ireland and Britain in its formative eras – a generational saga encompassing family drama, business innovation, public works and charitable endeavours.