The Sculpture Machine Physical Culture and Body Politics in the Age of Empire [Hardcover]

The Sculpture Machine portrays the dramatic revolution in bodily representation, ideas and pleasures that characterized the century encompassing the twilight of Romanticism and the dawn of Totalitarianism. It explains how character, environment and morality were linked through bodies by prominent social reformers, politicians, military leaders and innovative entrepreneurs. With a thought provoking analysis, it illustrates how ideas about bodies influenced the building of social, gender and sexual identities in concert with the construction of a larger consumer culture.List of Plates - Preface - Acknowledgements - Introduction - Bridging Reform and Consumerism - Picturing Heroic Consumers - Sculpting the Homoerotic - Imperial Mirrors - Slaughter Machines - Conclusion - Notes - Bibliography - Index

'Quite simply a superb book - original, profound, elegant. An outstanding study of the physique in modern culture, it advances our understanding of the male body as a symbol of political, cultural, and economic principles, ideals and ambitions.' - Ophir Lehavy

MICHAEL ANTON BUDD