From The Forsyte Saga and Buddenbrooks to The Swiss Family Robinson writers of fiction have been obsessed by certain families, but their novels pale beside such an authentic record as The House of Mitford by Jonathan Guinness and his daughter Catherine, descended from this remarkable family on the distaff side.

The Mitfords continue to exert a special fascination on the reading public, a healthy sign that we have not lost our national sense of humour. As a born expatriate I may not be qualified to judge how representative they are of an upper class English family, but they would strike