- Published: 4 January 2007
- ISBN: 9780141966304
- Imprint: Penguin eBooks
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 224
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: 4 January 2007
- ISBN: 9780141966304
- Imprint: Penguin eBooks
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 224
Other books in the series
About the author
Anton Chekhov was a Russian author and playwright who has been hailed as the master of the modern short story. Born in 1860 in Taganov, he studied at medical school before becoming a writer. Among his best known short tales are 'The Steppe' (which won him the Pushkin Prize in 1888), 'Ward No. 6' (1892) and 'The Lady with the Dog' (1889), while his plays include The Seagull (1895), Uncle Vanya (1897), The Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904), all of which are widely acclaimed as masterpieces. He died in July 1904 in Badenweiler, Germany.
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