Technology and the culture of modernity in Britain and Germany, 1890-1945
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Technology and the culture of modernity in Britain and Germany, 1890-1945
(New studies in European history)
Cambridge University Press, 2005
- : hardback
- : pbk
Available at 14 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
ISBN:9780521093149: "First published 2005. This digitally printed version 2008"--T.p. verso; "Paperback re-issue"--Back cover; Size: 23 cm
Includes bibliographical references (p. 286-314) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This book examines the obsession for new technology that swept through Britain and Germany between 1890 and 1945. Drawing on a wide range of popular contemporary writings and pictorial material, it explains how, despite frequently feeling overwhelmed by innovations, Germans and Britons nurtured a long-lasting fascination for aviation, glamorous passenger liners and film as they lived through profound social transformations and two vicious wars. Public discussions about these 'modern wonders' were torn between fears of novel risks and cultural decay on the one hand, and passionate support generated by nationalism and social fantasies on the other. While the investigation focuses on tensions between technophobia and euphoria, the book also examines the relationship between responses to technology and the differing political cultures in Britain and Germany before and after 1933. This innovative study will prove invaluable reading to anyone interested in comparative cultural history as well as the history of technology.
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. 'Modern Wonders': technological innovation and public ambivalence
- 3. Accidents: the physical risks of technology
- 4. Elusive illusions: the cultural and political properties of film
- 5. Pilots as popular heroes: risk, gender and the aeroplane
- 6. 'Floating palaces': passenger liners as objects of pleasure
- 7. Fantasy as social practice: the rise of amateur film
- 8. Technology and the nation in Britain and Germany
- 9. Conclusion
- Bibliography.
by "Nielsen BookData"