Theatres of Memory: Past and Present in Contemporary CultureWhen Theatres of Memory was first published in 1994, it transformed the debate about what is to be considered history and questioned the role of “heritage” that lies at the heart of every Western nation’s obsession with the past. Today, in the age of Downton Abbey and Mad Men, we are once again conjuring historical fictions to make sense of our everyday lives. In this remarkable book, Samuel looks at the many different ways we use the “unofficial knowledge” of the past. Considering such varied areas as the fashion for “retrofitting,” the rise of family history, the joys of collecting old photographs, the allure of reenactment societies and televised adaptations of Dickens, Samuel transforms our understanding of the uses of history. He shows us that history is a living practice, something constantly being reassessed in the world around us. |
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advertisement aesthetic albums ancient antiques architecture brick Britain British building centre century Chafford Hundred collection colour conservation conservationist Council country house culture David Dickens display early Edwardian England English English Heritage enthusiasm environment exhibition fashion favourite feature Festival of Britain film Garden Georgian Gothic heritage historians idea illustrations images imaginative industrial archaeology J.B. Priestley John kind Labour Lambeth Lambeth Walk landscape listed building Little Dorrit living history London look Mass Observation medieval modern monuments movement Museum narrative National Trust natural nineteenth nineteenth-century old photographs open-air original Oxford past period play politics popular Portobello Road preservation prints railway Raphael Samuel recent record retrochic revival scene schools seems shops social Society space story Street style taste Theatres of Memory theme parks town trade traditional turn Victorian village visitors visual Walk Walker Evans