"This is a persuasive and timely collection. Celebrity and charisma
are very much on the current research agenda. This volume deals
with these issues in a serious, insightful manner, making an
original contribution to what is now a rising field of study." .
Philip Nord, Princeton University
Railroads, telegraphs, lithographs, photographs, and mass
periodicals-the major technological advances of the 19th century
seemed to diminish the space separating people from one another,
creating new and apparently closer, albeit highly mediated, social
relationships. Nowhere was this phenomenon more evident than in the
relationship between celebrity and fan, leader and follower, the
famous and the unknown. By mid-century, heroes and celebrities
constituted a new and powerful social force, as innovations in
print and visual media made it possible for ordinary people to
identify with the famous; to feel they knew the hero, leader, or
"star"; to imagine that public figures belonged to their private
lives. This volume examines the origins and nature of modern mass
media and the culture of celebrity and fame they helped to create.
Crossing disciplines and national boundaries, the book focuses on
arts celebrities (Sarah Bernhardt, Byron and Liszt); charismatic
political figures (Napoleon and Wilhelm II); famous explorers
(Stanley and Brazza); and celebrated fictional characters (Cyrano
de Bergerac).
Edward Berenson is Professor of History and French Studies and
Director of the Institute of French Studies at New York University.
His numerous publications include The Trial of Madame Caillaux
(University of California Press 1992) and Heroes of Empire: Five
Charismatic Men and Europe's Quest for Africa, (University of
California Press 2010).
Eva Giloi is Assistant Professor in the History Department at
Rutgers University, Newark. Her book Monarchy, Myth, and Material
Culture in Germany 1750-1950 is forthcoming from Cambridge
University Press in 2010.
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