A short history of celebrity / Fred Inglis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Inglis, Fred.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Celebrities--History.

Celebrities.

Celebrities--Biography.

Fame--Social aspects--History.

Fame.

Fame--Psychological aspects--History.

History, Modern.

Popular culture--History.

Popular culture.

Civilization, Modern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (322 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Love it or hate it, celebrity is one of the dominant features of modern life--and one of the least understood. Fred Inglis sets out to correct this problem in this entertaining and enlightening social history of modern celebrity, from eighteenth-century London to today's Hollywood. Vividly written and brimming with fascinating stories of figures whose lives mark important moments in the history of celebrity, this book explains how fame has changed over the past two-and-a-half centuries. Starting with the first modern celebrities in mid-eighteenth-century London, including Samuel Johnson and the Prince Regent, the book traces the changing nature of celebrity and celebrities through the age of the Romantic hero, the European fin de siècle, and the Gilded Age in New York and Chicago. In the twentieth century, the book covers the Jazz Age, the rise of political celebrities such as Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin, and the democratization of celebrity in the postwar decades, as actors, rock stars, and sports heroes became the leading celebrities. Arguing that celebrity is a mirror reflecting some of the worst as well as some of the best aspects of modern history itself, Inglis considers how the lives of the rich and famous provide not only entertainment but also social cohesion and, like morality plays, examples of what--and what not--to do. This book will interest anyone who is curious about the history that lies behind one of the great preoccupations of our lives.Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgements

Part I. Fame and Feeling

Chapter 1. The Performance of Celebrity

Chapter 2. A Very Short History of the Feelings

Part II. The Rise of Celebrity: A Three-Part Invention

Chapter 3. The London-Brighton Road, 1760-1820

Chapter 4. Paris: Haute Couture and the Painting of Modern Life

Chapter 5. New York and Chicago: Robber Barons and the Gossip Column, 1880-1910

Part III. The Past in the Present

Chapter 6. The Geography of Recognition: Celebrity on Its Holidays

Chapter 7. The Great Dictators

Chapter 8. The Stars Look Down: The Democratisation of Celebrity

Chapter 9. From Each According to His Ability: Sport, Rock, Fashion, and the Self

Chapter 10. Stories We Tell Ourselves about Ourselves

Envoi. Cherishing Citizens

Notes

Illustrations

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612639401

9781282639409

1282639404

9781400834396

1400834392

OCLC:

665581261