Empires of the Imagination
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Review
''Empires of the Imagination' is a bold, provocative and ambitious book' --Ludmilla Jordanova, Professor of Modern History, King's College, London
'Empires of the Imagination is a bold, provocative and ambitious book.' --Ludmilla Jordanova, Professor of Modern History, King's College London
'an excellent book, brimming with insights and splendid illustrations...a sumptuous treat indeed' --Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph
"ambitious, authoritative survey of British visual culture in an age of imperial ascent" -- Maya Jasan
"beautifully produced, closely argued and deeply researched...an important, weighty book. It deserves close scrutiny and a warm reception." --Prof. Denis Judd, BBC History Magazine
"a hefty, exceptionally learned and exhaustively ... researched book ... Hoock's feel for the creative disorderliness of the time is a pleasure" --Simon Schama, Financial Times
"a learned, engrossing book. ... For anybody interested in British painting, military history or the culture of empire, this is a sumptuous treat indeed." --Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph
"ambitious, authoritative survey of British visual culture in an age of imperial ascent" --Maya Jasanoff, Guardian
'Empires Of The Imagination is a remarkable achievement, as sumptuous in argument as it is in presentation.'
--Brian Morton, Sunday Herald
"Hoock's analysis is of an astonishing breadth. It proves equally entertaining and encyclopaedic by virtue of good story-telling" --Deborah Rosario, Oxonian Review
'Empires of the Imagination is a bold, provocative and ambitious book.' --Ludmilla Jordanova, Professor of Modern History, King's College London
'an excellent book, brimming with insights and splendid illustrations...a sumptuous treat indeed' --Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph
"ambitious, authoritative survey of British visual culture in an age of imperial ascent" -- Maya Jasan
"beautifully produced, closely argued and deeply researched...an important, weighty book. It deserves close scrutiny and a warm reception." --Prof. Denis Judd, BBC History Magazine
"a hefty, exceptionally learned and exhaustively ... researched book ... Hoock's feel for the creative disorderliness of the time is a pleasure" --Simon Schama, Financial Times
"a learned, engrossing book. ... For anybody interested in British painting, military history or the culture of empire, this is a sumptuous treat indeed." --Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph
"ambitious, authoritative survey of British visual culture in an age of imperial ascent" --Maya Jasanoff, Guardian
'Empires Of The Imagination is a remarkable achievement, as sumptuous in argument as it is in presentation.'
--Brian Morton, Sunday Herald
"Hoock's analysis is of an astonishing breadth. It proves equally entertaining and encyclopaedic by virtue of good story-telling" --Deborah Rosario, Oxonian Review
Book Description
This scholarly yet highly accessible book illuminates the manifold ways in which the culture of power and the power of culture were interwoven and shaped the character of British public life.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful blend,
By
This review is from: Empires of the Imagination: Politics, War, and the Arts in the British World, 1750-1850 (Hardcover)
For anyone interested in British history, politics and artistic culture, then this is simply a wondefully well-written book. What I really enjoyed was the way in which Holger Hoock blends these themes into a century long narrative that is informative, captivating and fluently written. I bought this book because of the author's approach to the subject matter and his central thesis that "the British State, politics, war, and empire were more significant sites and agents of cultural change than has generally been acknowledged". This is the best non-fiction book I've read since Richard Holmes' 'Age of Wonder'. It exceeded my expectations so much that I've decided to track down a copy of his first book on the RA and the politics of Britsih culture published in 2003.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An imaginative work,
By
This review is from: Empires of the Imagination: Politics, War, and the Arts in the British World, 1750-1850 (Hardcover)
Empires of the Imagination is about the impact of Britain's empire on its arts and culture between 1750 and 1850, the period when, according to the author, empire-building began to have a visual impact at home. The book roams widely, from reactions to the lost American empire to London's triumphant statuary, and via antiquity collection in the Near East to despoliation and conservation in India. Hoock meditates, for example, on public and private reactions to the loss of America as seen through memorials and painting in Britain, and its counterpart: the melting down of Georgian statues in the rebel states. He has a chapter on Anglo-French rivalry in Egypt and Egyptology. And another provides the grubby story of the acquisition of the Elgin marbles. Indeed, one of Hoock's arguments is that the state was far more involved in supplying for an imperial culture than is generally recognised, and he uses the Elgin marbles as illustration.
Hoock's work is easy to read and entertaining. Though it has footnotes and looks like a scholarly tome, it really sits between academic and popular history. It is a wider work for the informed reader, not a specialist's tract for the art historian. It deserves only one warning: while it promises to about 'the culture of power and the power of culture', the book really is far more about the first than the second. It is easier to show the impact of power on culture than the other way around, to show how power translates into monuments and museums rather than how culture produces that diplomatic missive, that act of parliament, that war decision or even a body of them. Empires of the Imagination is no exception in this respect, though, and this does not detract from its value as an interesting and valuable survey.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An involving read.,
By
This review is from: Empires of the Imagination: Politics, War, and the Arts in the British World, 1750-1850 (Hardcover)
I bought this book on the back of some glowing reviews, and I was not disappointed. The book rattled along for much of its length, and smacks of rigorous research. The part dealing with British memorials made me want to go to London to revisit sites mentioned in the text, in order to experience them with new eyes.
The written style is accessible and informed, and the tale of state acquisition of foreign treasures is well told. For this reader, the energy level that permeated the first two-thirds of the book appeared to tail off somewhat towards the end, which was a pity, as the story of changing British attitudes towards Subcontinental art and heritage is a fascinating one; perhaps the author felt on firmer ground when dealing with the Americas and Middle East/Greece, which is a more well-trodden path for western scholars. Be that as it may, I would recommend this book for its scholarly approach and ambition. It is not light reading, demanding quite close attention to the text, but it does make the reader think about the relationship between the state and how it presents its history and acquired treasures to its people. Well worth the money (at its discounted price).
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