From the Norman Conquest to the present day, the story of Alnwick Castle and the Percy family has been woven into the fabric of British history. The castle represented the family’s dominance in the north and stood guard over the disputed, bloodstained borderlands. From the Norman knights who occupied and first constructed Alnwick Castle, through over 700 years of Percy ownership, great events in our history are seen through the lives of the barons, lords, earls and dukes who fought in battle and parliament to protect their and the nation’s interests. Their involvement in the Norman Conquest, the Crusades, Scottish and French wars, various rebellions and plots, the Wars of the Roses, the English Civil War, the War of American Independence, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, and the two World Wars are documented as well as the architectural, archaeological, scientific, environmental and artistic heritage that they created and protected. AUTHOR: Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland, was schooled at Eton College and studied history at Oxford before following a career in land management. Born in Alnwick Castle in 1956, he returned to live there when he acceded in 1995. He is married with 4 grown-up children and several dogs. SELLING POINTS: . Written by the Duke of Northumberland himself, featuring his own photography . Personal stories of growing up at Alnwick Castle - roller skating through state rooms; ice-skating on the river; disobedient dogs who, along with water pistols and footballs, have left their mark(s) on the Castle’s furnishings . Many family connections with names and events well-known from literature and history, eg: Harry ‘Hotspur’, immortalised by Shakespeare, was the eldest son of the first Earl of Northumberland; As a young man, the 6th Earl had a love affair with Anne Boleyn; The brother of the 5th Duke of Northumberland was the first to bring the news of Napoleon’s defeat to England 150 colour images