Even if the six daughters of the charming, eccentric David, Lord Redesdale and his wife Sydney – born between 1904 and 1920 –  had been quite ordinary, they were born into one of the most traumatic centuries of British history.  The status to which they were born would have made interesting reading on its own, but Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Decca and Debo – known as the mad, mad Mitfords – were far from ordinary. The true story behind the gaiety and frivolity of the six Mitford daughters is as sensational as a novel. Nancy: her bright social existence masked a doomed obsessional love, which soured her success; Pam: a countrywoman married to one of the finest brains in Europe; Diana: an iconic beauty, married, and at 22, fell in love with Oswald Moseley, leader of the British fascists; Unity: she was romantically in love with Hitler and became a member of his inner circle before shooting herself in the temple when World War II was declared; Jessica: the family rebel, who declared herself a Communist in the schoolroom; and Debo: she became the Duchess of Devonshire.   The author was given exclusive access to the Mitford archives. Illustrated with black and white photographs.