It's hard for many of us to fathom that a place as elegant and spacious as Downton Abbey could be called home, but that's just what it was for Carnarvons of Highclere Castle, the actual location where the series was filmed. Real-life parallels to characters in the series can be found in these book selections, which also provide stunning, in-depth depictions of the form and function of Britain's great country houses—as well as views of the London the aristocrats would visit when they left their palatial estates.