Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time is an absolute masterpiece chronicling the decline of the English aristo class from WWI til the 1970s. Previous editions have covered an approximate decade but the third movement is more compact including only England's 6 war years. Jenkins is as enigmatic as ever: seemingly "in" but not "of" the class. As much an observer as a participant.
And no, there is no "action" if one means cataclysmic events. But if you are interested in reading about a time, or place and how life unfolds a reader can't do better then these books.
My one complaint is that Third Movement seems to drag a bit at points. The war brings together a motley assortment of folk: Gwatikin, Stayce and Blithel move in and out of the narrative with varying degrees of success. Powell's depiction of the banker in a heroic strut is pitch perfect and a wonderful example of the author's comic brilliance. Other characterizations felt less successful, but perhaps that is true only in comparison to the first two books. Mixing the interaction of different classes as war would felt a bit jarring but not doubt it is or was quite authentic.
If you are looking for a series that patiently follows a character and a class through almost half a century of epic change, you can't do better than A Dance to the Music of Time: First, Second and Third Movements.
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