IF YOU LIKE DOWNTON ABBEY...
Reading recommendations from Nancy Pearl,
librarian, author, and book commentator
FICTION
Pat Barker, Regeneration
Based on the life of the well-known soldier and antiwar poet Siegfried Sassoon, this award-winning novel
is followed by The Eye in the Door and Ghost Road.
Charles Todd, A Duty to the Dead
First of the Bess Crawford mysteries, featuring a
battlefield nurse. Also try the same author’s
mysteries starring Inspector Rutledge, a troubled
World War I veteran.
Ken Follett, Fall of Giants
The story of five interrelated families—American,
Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs
German, Russian, English, and Welsh—through World Many of the plots in this popular series of mysteries
War I and after. First of a trilogy.
center on the events of World War I.
Kate Morton, The House at Riverton
Spans the decades from World War I to the last years
of the 20th century.
NONFICTION
K.M. Peyton, Flambards
First in a four-book series, set just prior to World
War I about orphaned Christina Russell who is sent
to live with her cousins in the country, one mad
about horses and hunting, one about aviation.
Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth
The first in Brittain’s three-part memoir series, this
installment encompasses World War I, describing
its impact on the author and her family as well as
England.
Philip Rock, The Passing Bells
The impact of World War I on the life of a titled
British family, their friends, their servants, and
the society in which they live. First of a trilogy
originally published in 1982, to be reissued by
Morrow in December, 2012. It’s followed by Circles
of Time and A Future Arrived.
Miranda Carter, George, Nicholas and Wilhelm:
Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I
An account of the events leading up to World War I,
and a close look at three first cousins: King George V
of Britain, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and Tsar
Nicholas II of Russia and their roles in the great war.
Elizabeth Speller, The Return of Captain John
Emmett
At the behest of the dead man’s sister, Lawrence
Bartram investigates the mysterious death of his old
schoolmate and fellow World War I veteran Captain
John Emmett.
Countess of Carnarvon, Lady Almina and the Real
Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle
Tells the story of Highclere Castle, the real-life
inspiration for Downton Abbey, and the life of one
of its most famous inhabitants, Lady Almina, the 5th
Countess of Carnarvon, the basis of the fictional
character Lady Cora Crawley.
NONFICTION CONT.
Wade Davis, Into the Silence: The Great War,
Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest
Shows how Mallory (and team) were affected by the
war and how their wartime experiences affected the
famed Everest climb.
Jeanne Mackenzie, The Children of the Souls:
A Tragedy of the First World War
Portrays the lives of an elite group of English
intellectuals who died fighting in World War I.
Juliet Nicolson, The Perfect Summer: England 1911,
Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory
Just Before the Storm
Using personal correspondence, newspapers, and
This social history looks at life in England in the
literary works—this fascinating look at the impact of Summer of 1911. The coronation of King George V,
World War I contains a wide selection of rare images. the summer’s unusual heat wave, industrial strikes
across the nation, a bored aristocracy, and a country
Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That:
on the brink of radical change paint a vivid picture of
An Autobiography
the time.
In this acclaimed autobiography, first published in
1929, poet Robert Graves traces his early life and
Margaret Powell, Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen
experiences in World War I.
Maid’s Memoir That Inspired Upstairs Downstairs
and Downton Abbey
Adam Hochschild, To End All Wars: A Story of
Powell’s classic memoir of her time in service is a
Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918
fascinating glimpse of that long-gone world.
Describes the lives and experiences of the men
and women who opposed World War I for a variety
of reasons.
The Great War is over and a long-awaited engagement is on, but all is not tranquil
at Downton Abbey as wrenching social changes, romantic intrigues, and personal
crises grip the majestic English country estate for a third thrilling season. The
acclaimed cast returns with guest star Academy Award®-winner Shirley MacLaine.
Downton Abbey Season 3 will air on MASTERPIECE
on PBS, Sundays starting January 6, 9PM/EST