The historical imagination in nineteenth-century Britain and the Low Countries
Edited by Hugh Dunthorne, Swansea University and Michael Wintle, University of Amsterdam
The nineteenth century laid the foundations of history as a professional discipline but also popularized and romanticized the subject. National histories were written and state museums founded, while collective memories were created in fiction and drama, art and architecture and through the growth of tourism and the emergence of a heritage industry. The authors of this collection compare Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium, unearthing the ways in which history was conceived and then utilized. They conclude that although nationalistic historicism ruled in all genres, the interaction of the nineteenth century with its imagined past was far richer and more complex, both across national borders and within them.Contributors include: Niek van Sas, Andrew Mycock, Marnix Beyen, Ellinoor Bergvelt, Joep Leerssen, Joanne Parker, Anna Vaninskaya, Jenny Graham, Tom Verschaffel, Saartje Vanden Borre, Hugh Dunthorne and Michael Wintle.
Biographical note
Hugh Dunthornetaught history at Swansea University from 1971 until 2009. He has written on various aspects of Anglo-Dutch relations, and has recently completed a study of Britain and the Dutch Revolt 1560-1700.Michael Wintle is Professor of European History at the University of Amsterdam; prior to 2002, he taught at the University of Hull, UK. He has published widely on Dutch and European history, including The Image of Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
Readership
All interested in the historical imagination, historiography, nation-building, historical fiction, art history and museum and media studies, at undergraduate, graduate, and research academic levels.
