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Books > History > World history > General
This book explores commemoration practices and preservation efforts
in modern Britain, focusing on the years from the end of the First
World War until the mid-1960s. The changes wrought by war led
Britain to reconsider major historical episodes that made up its
national narrative. Part of this process was a reassessment of
heritage sites, because such places carry socio-political meaning
as do the memorials that mark them. This book engages the four-way
intersection of commemoration, preservation, tourism, and urban
planning at some of the most notable historic locations in England.
The various actors in this process-from the national government and
regional councils to private organizations and interested
individuals-did nothing less than engineer British national memory.
The author presents case studies of six famous British places,
namely battlefields (Hastings and Bosworth), political sites
(Runnymede and Peterloo), and world's fairgrounds (the Crystal
Palace and Great White City). In all three genres of heritage
sites, one location developed through commemorations and tourism,
while the other 'anti-sites' simultaneously faltered as they were
neither memorialized nor visited by the masses. Ultimately, the
book concludes that the modern social and political environment
resulted in the revival, creation, or erasure of heritage sites in
the service of promoting British national identity. A valuable read
for British historians as well as scholars of memory, public
history, and cultural studies, the book argues that heritage
emerged as a discursive arena in which British identity was
renegotiated through times of transitions, both into a democratic
age and an era of geopolitical decline.
The untold story of hockey's deep roots from different regions of
the world, and its global, cultural impact. Played on frozen ponds
in cold northern lands, hockey seemed an especially unlikely game
to gain a global following. But from its beginnings in the
nineteenth century, the sport has drawn from different cultures and
crossed boundaries--between Canada and the United States, across
the Atlantic, and among different regions of Europe. It has been a
political flashpoint within countries and internationally. And it
has given rise to far-reaching cultural changes and firmly held
traditions. The Fastest Game in the World is a global history of a
global sport, drawing upon research conducted around the world in a
variety of languages. From Canadian prairies to Swiss mountain
resorts, Soviet housing blocks to American suburbs, Bruce Berglund
takes readers on an international tour, seamlessly weaving in
hockey's local, national, and international trends. Written in a
lively style with wide-ranging breadth and attention to telling
detail, The Fastest Game in the World will thrill both the lifelong
fan and anyone who is curious about how games intertwine with
politics, economics, and culture.
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