The Gothic: A Very Short Introduction By Nick Groom (Paperback, 2012)

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The Gothic is wildly diverse It can refer to ecclesiastical architecture supernatural fiction cult horror films & a distinctive style of rock music It has influenced political theorists & social reformers as well as Victorian home decor & contemporary fashion Nick Groom shows how the Gothic has come to encompass so many meanings by telling the story of the Gothic from the ancient tribe who sacked Rome to the alternative subculture of the present day This unique Very Short Introduction reveals that the Gothic has predominantly been a way of understanding & responding to the past Time after time the Gothic has been invoked in order to reveal what lies behind conventional history It is a way of disclosing secrets whether in the constitutional politics of seventeenth-century England or the racial politics of the United States While contexts change the Gothic perpetually regards the past with fascination both yearning & horrified It reminds us that neither societies nor individuals can escape the consequences of their actions The anatomy of the Gothic is richly complex & perversely contradictory & so the thirteen chapters here range deliberately widely This is the first time that the entire story of the Gothic has been written as a continuous history from the historians of late antiquity to the gardens of Georgian England from the mediaeval cult of the macabre to German Expressionist cinema from Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy to American consumer society from folk ballads to vampires from the past to the present ABOUT THE SERIES The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable