The richly varied lives of the Martin brothers reflected the many
upheavals of Britain in the age of Industrial Revolution. Low-born
and largely unschooled, they were part of a new generation of
artists, scientists and inventors who witnessed the creation of the
modern world. William, the eldest, was a cussedly eccentric
inventor who couldn't look at a piece of machinery without thinking
about how to improve it; Richard, a courageous soldier, fought in
the Peninsular War and at Waterloo; Jonathan, a hellfire preacher
tormented by madness and touched with a visionary genius
reminiscent of William Blake, almost burned down York Minster in
1829; while John, the youngest Martin, single-handedly invented,
mastered and exhausted an entire genre of painting, the apocalyptic
sublime, while playing host to the foremost writers, scientists and
thinkers of his day. In The Prometheans Max Adams interweaves the
fascinating story of these maverick siblings with a magisterial and
multi-faceted account of the industrial, political and artistic
ferment of early 19th-century Britain. His narrative centres on a
generation of inventors, artists and radical intellectuals
(including the chemist Humphry Davy, the engineer George
Stephenson, the social reformer Robert Owen and the poet Shelley)
who were seeking to liberate humanity from the tyranny of material
discomfort and political oppression. For Adams, the shared
inspiration that binds this generation together is the cult of
Prometheus, the titan of ancient Greek mythology who stole fire
from Zeus to give to mortal man, and who became a potent symbol of
political and personal liberation from the mid-18th century
onwards. Whether writing about Davy's invention of the miner's
safety lamp, the scandalous private life of the Prince Regent, the
death of Shelley or J.M.W. Turner's use of colour, Adams's
narrative is pacy, characterful, and rich in anecdote, quotation
and memorable character sketch. Like John Martin himself, he has
created a sprawling and brightly coloured canvas on an epic scale.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
