Brown’s Hotel: A Family Affair by Andy Williamson

And what a story it is. Williamson walks us through the world of Brown’s and a cast of characters more intriguing than in a novel by frequent guest Agatha Christie. There are stories about royalty and rulers, lords and ladies, politicians and presidents, diplomats and bureaucrats, heroes and heroines, writers and publishers, con artists and crooks, spies and war criminals, actors and journalists, bartenders and waiters, friends and foes, members of the armed forces, doctors, religious leaders, entrepreneurs, explorers, businesspeople, inventors, scientists and newly-weds.

New discoveries abound. Brown’s is five years older than previously thought, AND it was founded by a completely different James Brown than the one we thought it was. But Williamson isn’t only interested in setting the record straight. The book is a love-letter to a classic British historic hotel and all the people who have worked and stayed in it.

Brown’s Hotel: A Family Affair is the perfect gift for anyone interested in social history and London hotel life in the city’s oldest luxury hotel.