Synopses & Reviews
The 500-year story of how, and why, our homes have come to be what they are, from the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Invention of Murder and The Victorian City
The
idea that "home" is a special place, a separate place, a place where we
can be our true selves, is so obvious to us today that we barely pause
to think about it. But, as Judith Flanders shows in her most ambitious
work to date, "home" is a relatively new idea.
In The Making of Home,
Flanders traces the evolution of the house from the sixteenth to the
early twentieth century across northern Europe and America, showing how
the homes we know today bear only a faint resemblance to homes though
history. What turned a house into a home? Why did northwestern Europe, a
politically unimportant, sociologically underdeveloped region of the
world, suddenly became the powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution, the
capitalist crucible that created modernity? While investigating these
important questions, Flanders uncovers the fascinating development of
ordinary household items — from cutlery, chairs and curtains, to fitted
kitchens, plumbing and windows — while also dismantling many domestic
myths.
In this prodigiously researched and engagingly written
book, Flanders elegantly draws together the threads of religion,
history, economics, technology and the arts to show not merely what
happened, but why it happened: how we ended up in a world where we can
all say, like Dorothy in Oz, "There's no place like home."
Review
“Extensively researched and eminently readable… Flanders’ treatise is an
encyclopedic examination of how humans have redefined what it takes to
survive.” Booklist
Review
“The heart of Ms. Flanders’s book traces the physical alteration of
houses over the past five centuries… A useful synthesis for those
interested in architectural history and material culture” The Wall Street Journal
Review
“Judith Flanders’s new book isn’t just smart and diverting but it is
also brave… Flanders uses books well and pictures intelligently,
searching images for hidden meaning… this book has charm and learning.” The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
JUDITH FLANDERS is an international bestselling author and one of the
foremost social historians of the Victorian era. Her book Inside the
Victorian Home was shortlisted for the British Book Awards History Book
of the Year. Judith is a frequent contributor to the Daily Telegraph,
Guardian, Spectator, and the Times Literary Supplement. She lives in
London.