With its elegantly appointed rooms and bustling domestic staff, “Downton Abbey” is destination TV for millions. The second season of PBS’ Emmy-winning hit wrapped up Sunday, but you can prolong your visit to the era with these books.

1. “The World of Downton Abbey,” by Jessica Fellowes, is hefty and lush with color photos and production details. It includes a foreword by series creator Julian Fellowes, the author’s uncle. It introduces the real-life location, Highclere Castle, and the people who live and serve in the magnificent home. Actors reflect on portraying the Grantham and Crawley family members, friends and servants, and the pages are peppered with behind-the-scenes tidbits: Wigs worn by Maggie Smith are prepared in advance so she can slide them on like hats; at the end of a day’s shooting, according to Lesley Nicol (Mrs. Patmore), the actresses bend over the kitchen table to relieve their corsets. Dialogue coach Penny Dyer observes that “the real difference in speech with a period piece is not so much the pronunciation of the words but that the height of the ceilings and the size of the rooms affect the voice.” This is a book to dip into, not devour, to savor the richness.

2. Who could know the ins and outs of Highclere better than its current resident? Lady Fiona Carnarvon traces the story of the home and her predecessor in “Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey.” An heiress even before her marriage, Almina, daughter of Alfred de Rothschild, is recognizable to “Downton” fans as the model for Isobel Crawley. Not content to bask in extraordinary wealth, she found outlets for her energy, including politics, “relishing this chance to get out into the world and talk about something of national importance, rather than being merely the public face of Highclere.” But Almina’s greatest satisfaction came from transforming the castle into a convalescent hospital for wounded British soldiers, as dramatized in the TV series. Almina micromanaged everything, even commissioning chic nurse’s uniforms: “Their dresses were made of fine wool in a cheerful crushed-strawberry-pink, with starched white aprons and caps. This detail set the tone: Highclere would be a cutting-edge hospital, but also a sensual retreat from combat. Almina proved herself an instinctive master of what we might call holistic medicine.” The author includes an update on the Highclere estate today, still home to a very fortunate few.