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Erin L. Thompson

Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of America's Public Monuments Hardcover – February 8, 2022

by Erin L. Thompson (Author)

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A leading expert on the past, present, and future of public monuments in America.

An urgent and fractious national debate over public monuments has erupted in America. Some people risk imprisonment to tear down long-ignored hunks of marble; others form armed patrols to defend them. Why do we care so much about statues? Which ones should stay up and which should come down? Who should make these decisions, and how?

Erin L. Thompson, the country’s leading expert in the tangled aesthetic, legal, political, and social issues involved in such battles, brings much-needed clarity in Smashing Statues. She lays bare the turbulent history of American monuments and its abundant ironies, from the enslaved man who helped make the statue of Freedom that tops the United States Capitol, to the fervent Klansman fired from sculpting the world’s largest Confederate monument―who went on to carve Mount Rushmore. And she explores the surprising motivations behind contemporary flashpoints, including the toppling of a statue of Columbus at the Minnesota State Capitol, the question of who should be represented on the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park, and the decision by a museum of African American culture to display a Confederate monument removed from a public park.

Written with great verve and informed by a keen sense of American history, Smashing Statues gives readers the context they need to consider the fundamental questions for rebuilding not only our public landscape but our nation as a whole: Whose voices must be heard, and whose pain must remain private?

20 illustrations

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

February 8, 2022
Dimensions

5.9 x 1.1 x 8.6 inches
ISBN-10

0393867676
ISBN-13

978-0393867671
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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Comprehensive….Thompson provides a compelling, historical account of how capitalism is both motivator and maintainer of institutional racism….Her examination of 'art crime' as central to understanding our shameful United States history is captivating."
― Jack Christian, Los Angeles Review of Books

"A crisply written book encompassing law, art, history and politics that contextualizes the American debate over monuments."
― Library Journal (starred review)

"Offers a probing examination of the meaning of public monuments…A well-informed, often surprising, history of public veneration."
― Kirkus Reviews

"[A] trenchant account…Full of intriguing historical tidbits and incisive cultural analysis, this is a worthy study of a complex and controversial issue."
― Publishers Weekly

From the Back Cover

The real stories behind some of America’s most famed statues:

• Mount Rushmore

• The Freedom statue atop the United States Capitol Building

• Stone Mountain

• The first monument honoring historical women in New York City’s Central Park

• The North Carolina State Confederate Monument

• Christopher Columbus, toppled in Minnesota

• The Confederate monument removed from Birmingham, Alabama

• The controversial Freedmen’s Memorial in Washington, DC

…and more.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company (February 8, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393867676
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393867671
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 1.1 x 8.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #226,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Public Art
- #61 in Sculpture Appreciation
- #1,233 in Art History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
8 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Jupes

True eye-opener

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2022

Verified Purchase

After reading this book, I will never look at statues or monuments the same way again. Thanks to the facts this books points out, I'm finally truly seeing what these homages stand for. This book is a must read if you want to challenge what you think you already know.

Helpful

SpaceOnTheBookcase

Important Facts Every American Should Know

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2022

Smashing Statues by Erin L. Thompson takes the reader on a journey throughout American history and it’s turbulent and divisive relationship with statues. Specifically statues and monuments surrounding the Confederate movement, slavery and American figureheads.

What struck me the most while listening to this eBook was how much I didn’t know. Of course, you’d have to be living under a rock to miss the culture shift happening across the nation but the history of what statues and monuments we have, who paid for them, who fought to keep them, the laws that now protect them…etc, are not exactly taught in history class. At least, not in any high school or undergrad American history class I ever took.

The authors focus on Stone Mountain, located not far from Atlanta, Georgia churned my stomach the most. I remember vacationing there as a child with my family but I didn’t know about the prison (read slave) labor that constructed it. My understanding of the confederacy, at that age anyway, was very rudimentary. Erin L. Thompson has inspired me to dig more so that my children, now the same age I was, will not remain ignorant.

Overall I thought the ebook was well written and flowed well. It is heavy on dates and people, so I took it in by chunking instead of just listening straight through, but I don’t think that is a bad thing.

Smashing Statues will be released on 2/8/22. I plan to buy and donate copies of this book to my daughters schools.

Thank you to @netgalley, OrangeSky Audio and author, Erin L. Thompson for allowing me access to an eARC copy in exchange for a honest review.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Gregg A Granger

Fascinating and Timely

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2022

Well-written. The author is not only an art historian, but a talented wordsmith as well.
The book has many fascinating stories of questionable ethics in the commissioning, creation, preservation and/or removal of our monuments.

One person found this helpful

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