Doing History in the Age of Downton Abbey: Journal of British Cinema and Television, Volume 16, Issue 1

Addresses how academic historians engage with Downton Abbey and similar programmes on a personal, intellectual, and professional basis

As representations of history, period dramas perform serious work, and can be used to discuss both historical and contemporary issues (voting rights, war and trauma, reproductive rights). The contributors challenge the narrow view of period drama TV as conservative nostalgia; through sharing their experiences with these series (as consultants, bloggers and public speakers) they suggest ways in which historians can navigate the boundaries between academic and public history.

Key Features

Gives personal accounts of the ways US historians have been publicly in work on one of the most talked-about television dramas

Looks at Downton Abbey from historians’ perspectives, not to challenge its historical accuracy but to explore how it works as popular history

Explores the divide between public and academic history

Brings together British and American historians to help us understand how British popular culture is used and consumed in different ways