Manchester University Press Exhibiting the Empire: Cultures of Display and the British Empire: 130 (Studies in Imperialism)

Exhibiting the empire considers how a whole range of cultural products - from paintings, prints, photographs, panoramas and 'popular' texts to ephemera, newspapers and the press, theatre and music, exhibitions, institutions and architecture - were used to record, celebrate and question the development of the British Empire. It represents a significant and original contribution to our understanding of the relationship between culture and empire. Written by leading scholars from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, individual chapters bring fresh perspectives to the interpretation of media, material culture and display, and their interaction with history. Taken together, this collection suggests that the history of empire needs to be, in part at least, a history of display and of reception. This book will be essential reading for scholars and students interested in British history, the history of empire, art history and the history of museums and collecting. Review Exhibiting the Empire is an excellent contribution to the continued debate about the empire's role in Britain. There is a good deal packed into this relatively short volume, which certainly raises a number of new topics and approaches that warrant further attention from scholars of empire, British and otherwise. - Stephen Hague, Rowan University, H-Net, Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online This collection is a brilliant example of how the historiography of empire should consider the multiple and complex imperial interactions within and throughout British domestic culture. Contributions from a range of scholars and a variety of disciplinary traditions show that a host of cultural products were used to record, celebrate and question the development of the British Empire within the metropole. - Shahmima Akhtar, University of Birmingham, Journal of contemporary History, Vol. 54, No. 1 From the Back Cover Exhibiting the Empire considers how a wide range of cultural products were used to record, celebrate and question the development of the British Empire. It provides a significant and original contribution to our understanding of the relationship between culture and the British Empire. Individual chapters bring fresh perspectives to the interpretation of media, material culture and display and their interaction with the associated history. The empire was exhibited for a variety of reasons: to promote trade and commerce; to encourage emigration and settlement; to assert and cement imperial authority; to digest and display the data and specimens collected from voyages of exploration and missionary endeavours undertaken in the name of empire; and to celebrate and commemorate important landmarks, people or events in the imperial pantheon. Exhibiting the Empire considers a broad sweep of 'imperial moments' and media that includes paintings, prints, photographs, panoramas and 'popular' texts to ephemera, newspapers and the press, theatre and music, exhibitions, institutions and architecture. This collection is used to highlight the contingent and changing nature of imperial display as well as its continuing impact in Britain throughout (and beyond) the country's imperial meridian. Written by leading scholars from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, Exhibiting the Empire will be essential reading for scholars and students interested in British history, the history of empire, art history and the history of museums and collecting. About the Author John McAleer is Curator of Eighteenth-Century Imperial and Maritime History at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich John MacKenzie is Emeritus Professor of Imperial History, Lancaster University and holds Honorary Professorships at Aberdeen, St Andrews and Stirling, as well as an Honorary Fellowship at Edinburgh.