Over 10 years, he's transformed by the war and begins to question his cherished notions of class, rank and duty.

WSJ: TV's Novel Challenge: Parade's End and Other Literature on the Screen

The British food critic traveled incognito with a team of inspectors from London to New York on 10 airlines (always in economy class) to rank the carriers' kitchens.

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They found that both real lower-class participants and those temporarily induced to rank themselves as lower class felt that a greater share of a person's salary should be used to support charity.

ECONOMIST: They are more selfish

In keeping with previous work, they found that high- and low-rank individuals showed different levels of responsiveness to a class of hormones called glucocorticoids, which regulate immune-system activity and response to stress.

ECONOMIST: Social status and health

Their background would be familiar to readers of Jane Austen, a writer Mr Gayford often and aptly refers to: a few families thrown together by class, alive to every social nuance, ears pricked for money and rank.

ECONOMIST: Constable's early life