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Article: The Culture of History: English Uses of the Past 1800-1953.(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- June 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Culture of History: English Uses of the Past 1800-1953. By Billie Melman. (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2006. Pp. xii, 363. $19.00.)
How did English men and women view their past? Indeed, what past did they view? These are the two questions the author asks in this fascinating book. From the arrival of Marie Tussaud in England with thirty wax figures to the coronation of Elizabeth II and the advent of mass television, the author describes a past that differs very much from the "Merrie" and rural England we often envision. Madame Tussaud's waxworks transformed the past from a rural utopia to an urban scene filled with violence and horror. As a ...