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.
By:
Isabel Colegate
Introduction by:
Julian Fellowes
Imprint: Penguin
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 198mm,
Width: 130mm,
Spine: 16mm
Weight: 174g
ISBN: 9780141188676
ISBN 10: 0141188677
Series: Penguin Modern Classics
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 03 December 2021
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Part I. Introduction: 1. Gut form and function D. J. Chivers and P. Langer; 2. Food and digestion of Caenozoic mammals in Europe P. Langer; 3. Modelling gut function C. Martinez del Rio, S. J. Cork and W. H. Karasov; 4. Optimum gut structure for specified diets R. McNeill Alexander; Part II. Food: 5. Foods and the digestive system C. M. Hladik and D. J. Chivers; 6. Classification of foods for comparative analysis of gastro-intestinal tracts P. Langer and D. J. Chivers; 7. The carnivorous herbivores R. J. Moir; 8. Nutritional ecology of fruit-eating and flower-visiting birds and bats C. Martinez del Rio; 9. Herbivory and niche partitioning M. R. Perrin; 10. Taste discrimination and diet differentiation among New World primates B. Simmen; 11. Potential hominid plant foods from woody species in semi-arid vs. sub-humid subtropical Africa C. R. Peters and E. M. O'Brien; Part III. Form: 12. The form of selected regions of the gastro-intestinal tract G. Bjornhag and P. Langer; 13. Categorisation of food items relevant to oral processing P. W. Lucas; 14. A direct method for measurement of gross surface area of mammalian gastro-intestinal tracts M. Young Owl; 15. Morphometric methods for determining surface enlargement at the microscopic level in the large intestine and their application R. L. Snipes; 16. Weaning time and bypass structures in fore-stomachs of Marsupalia and Eutheria P. Langer; 17. Adaptations in the large intestine allowing small animals to eat fibrous foods G. Bjornhag; Part IV. Function: 18. Foraging and digestion in herbivores G. O. Batzli and I. D. Hume; 19. Gut morphology, body size and digestive performance in rodents I. D. Hume; 20. The integrated processing response in herbivorous small mammals G. O. Batzli, A. D. Broussard and R. J. Oliver; 21. Digestive constraints on dietary scope in small and moderately-small mammals S. J. Cork; 22. Effects and costs of allelochemicals for mammalian herbivores W. J. Foley and C. McArthur; 23. Short-chain fatty acids as a physiological signal from gut microbes T. Sakata; Part V. Synthesis and Perspectives: 24. Food, form and function D. J. Chivers, P. Langer, C. Martinez del Rio, S. J. Cork, W. H. Karasov, R. McNeill Alexander, C. M. Hladik, R. J. Moir, M. R. Perrin, B. Simmen, C. R. Peters, E. M. O'Brien, G. Bjornhag, P. W. Lucas, M. Young Owl, R. L. Snipes, G. O. Batzli, I. D. Hume, A. D. Broussard, R. J. Oliver, W. J. Foley, C. McArthur and T. Sakata.
Isabel Colegate is the acclaimed author of many bestselling books including THE SHOOTING PARTY, THE ORLANDO TRILOGY, THE SUMMER OF THE ROYAL VISIT and most recently, WINTER JOURNEY. Julian Fellowes was an actor for over twenty years before winning the Academy Award for Writing Original in 2001 for Gosford Park . His novel Snobs was published in 2004.
Reviews for The Shooting Party
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- This classic book was the inspiration behind Gosford Park and Downtown Abbey (which Julian Fellowes graciously acknowledges in his informative introduction – be sure to read this after you’ve read the book).
It is set in 1913 on a country estate with a fascinating array of characters all brought together for a shooting party. Colegate shows, in meticulous and quite witty detail, a way of life struggling to remain the same despite the inevitable winds of change blowing their way.
At times funny, touching and delivered with a light touch, this book and its characters leave their mark upon the reader. Greg
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 modern classic * The Times * A minor masterpiece * Daily Mail *
