Images of Change: An Archaeology of England's Contemporary Landscape - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 190562414X ISBN 13: 9781905624140

Publisher: Historic England in Association with Liverpool University Press, 2008

Synopsis

An exploration, through words and images, of both the evolution of the later 20th century landscape and the material expression of events and processes of the time, this English Heritage book challenges the orthodoxy of the heritage industry and asks us to consider the megastores, motorways and housing developments of our present landscape. In chapters on People, Politics, Profit and Pleasure, it opens a discussion of the archaeology, history, memory and experience of landscape. With a foreword by Antony Gormley.

About this title

Review:

"a thoughtful and very clever argument for a particular way of experiencing, and analysing history in landscape. Buy it." British Archaeology Sept/Oct 2009 "a provocative new book from English Heritage that sheds light on the impact of post-1945 social change on the everyday environment ... Sefryn Penrose and her contributors offer an alternative 'modern heritage' agenda.A" The Times "Images of Change is a wonderfully enjoyable, even an important, book." New Statesman "this valuable and thought-provoking book reveals the surprising beauty in the most unlikely places, such as shopping centres, service stations and motorways, and is a great antidote to architectural nostalgia." Sunday Telegraph "a provocative and discursive book ... It looks like a picture book but is far from bland." Journal of the Twentieth Century Society "Engagingly written, with a fresh design aesthetic and beautiful colour photographs, Images of Change manages to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar. Perhaps most importantly, this highly accessible volume amply demonstrates the seriousness of the contemporary archaeology project." Landscapes, Vol 9, No 2 (2008)

Synopsis:

Motorways, airports, tower blocks, power stations, windfarms; TV and the internet, easy travel and shrinking distances; business parks, starter homes and vast shopping and leisure complexes - all of these helped define the later 20th-century world and their material remains remind us of the major changes brought about through innovation and rapidly developing technology. Illustrated with striking aerial and ground photographs of some stunning and sometimes surprising 20th-century landscapes, "Images of Change" highlights for perhaps the first time the impact the developments of the last century have had on the landscape and gives us a new angle on the industrial, military, domestic and agricultural influences at work around us. By turns dramatic, beautiful, perhaps even shocking, the images and accompanying text will convince that the later 20th century should not be seen as an age that has devalued or destroyed what went before. Understanding how the 20th-century landscape is perceived and how it connects to the past is part of what this book is about - helping us to understand that change and creation is as important in the landscape as preservation.

We recognise and celebrate the process of landscape change for earlier periods - the 20th century should be no different.

About this edition

• Publisher: Historic England in Association with Liverpool University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 190562414X
• ISBN 13: 9781905624140
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 200
• Editor: Penrose Ahrc Research Associate Sefryn