The summer of 1911 was one of the high sunlit meadows of English history, but on the horizon lurked a gathering storm. A new king was on the throne and the aristocracy were at play. Yet as temperatures soared, cracks appeared under the surface with strikes, class divisions and the seeds of war to come. Through the eyes of a series of exceptional individuals - among them a debutante, a choirboy, a politicians, a trade unionist, a butler and the Queen - Juliet Nicolson illuminates a turning point in history.