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  • Published: 30 November 2021
  • ISBN: 9780141188676
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $29.99

The Shooting Party




A masterpiece of historical fiction, and the inspiration behind Downton Abbey

It is 1913 - a breath away from the Great War - and Edwardian England is about to vanish into history. An assorted group of men and women gather at Sir Randolph Nettleby's estate for a shooting party. Opulent, adulterous, moving assuredly through the rituals of eating and slaughter, they are an era's dazzlingly obtuse and brilliantly decorative finale.

A quiet, elegant meditation on class frustration and the transience of human concern, The Shooting Party is also the inspiration behind one of the great landmarks of popular culture - Downtown Abbey.

  • Published: 30 November 2021
  • ISBN: 9780141188676
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $29.99

Other books in the series

The New Penguin Book Of American Short Stories, From Washington Irving To Lydia Davis
A Dog's Heart
The Black Tulip
The Lady of the Camellias
Selected Poetry
On Sparta
Venus in Furs
Man and Superman
Botchan
Military Dispatches

About the author

Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), the grandson of a former serf and son of a grocer, was born in Taganrog, a port in Southern Russia. His childhood was overshadowed by his frightening father, but he was close to his mother. While he was at university, his father was defrauded and went bankrupt, leaving the family in dire financial straits; Chekhov supported them almost single-handedly by selling stories and sketches to magazines. Although a doctor by profession, he soon became famous for his brilliant stories and plays, and is today recognized as one of the greatest short story writers of all time.

Also by Anton Chekhov

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Praise for The Shooting Party

Threads of romance, social comment, country lore and intrigue both above and below stairs are cunningly worked together to create a brilliant tapestry... I have seldom enjoyed a book so much

Sunday Telegraph

Colegate has found a perfect metaphor for the passing of a way of life

Spectator

A minor masterpiece

Daily Mail

A modern classic

The Times
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