The Blandys of Madeira: 1811-2011

Founded on a remote Portuguese island in the Atlantic in the last years of the Napoleonic War, the Blandy firm has never ceased to trade in the unique wine for which Madeira is so famous. But the portfolio of businesses owned, developed, and run by the family over the years includes many of the central concerns of the period — from coal and shipping to newspapers and hotels. Not many companies are still owned and run by the same family after 200 years, and now Marcus Binney tells the remark...