Beacon for Change by Barry Turner

Beacon for Change by Barry Turner

As the 2012 Olympics sets about re-making a whole swathe of east London, Barry Turner’ s book marks the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain, which did the same for London’ s South Bank after the war. Where the stupendous, Pharaonic construction site of the 2012 Olympics and its £ 9 bn budget is all in aid of a few weeks of running and cycle races, 60 years ago there was a far more ambitious cultural event. Centred on London’ s South Bank, which was cleared of its industry and Victorian architecture, the Festival of Britain sought not only to celebrate the best of Britishness but also to set new standards and paradigms for modern design, aesthetics and architecture. With satellite festivals all over Britain, it attracted 8 ½ million visitors in a year (the Millennium Dome managed only 5 ½ million). The Royal Festival Hall was built, as well as the Dome of Discovery (then the largest unsupported roof in the world), and the long-lamented, Skylon (a futuristic aluminium pylon). The Scandinavian design we now take for granted with IKEA’ s furniture was a big influence in the Festival buildings’ architecture. As well as nostalgic appeal its story constitutes a kind of sequel to David Kynaston’ s Austerity Britain, as the Festival gave the British people permission to enjoy themselves and look forward at last to a future of modernity and prosperity.

‘A scintillating new history of the festival of Britain’ - Richard Morrison

‘This fascinating book chronicles the ambitious cultural event that transformed London’s South Bank’

'A sprightly and engaging history…highly informative and peppered with shrewd judgments.’

‘ A scintillating new history of the festival of Britain.’ - Richard Morrison

‘ This fascinating book chronicles the ambitious cultural event that transformed London’ s South Bank’

‘ This is an outstanding retelling of the 1951 Festival of Britain story to greet this year’ s 60th anniversary: immensely readable, never short on detail and analysis.’

‘ Beacon for Change has great nostalgic appeal for those who lived through the fast changing fifties’

'A sprightly and engaging history… highly informative and peppered with shrewd judgments.’

Barry Turner is a distinguished historian and author of many books including Outpost of Occupation, Countdown to Victory and Suez 1956. He has been a full-time writer for thirty years, and before that wrote as a teacher and journalist. He has written and produced documentaries on a variety of arts subjects and has made regular appearances on BBC current affairs programmes. After twenty years of success as editor of The Writer's Handbook, Barry Turner was appointed editor of the annual Statesman's Yearbook. He now writes for The Times and is the founder of the National Academy of Writing. Barry Turner lives in London and in south-west France.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9781845135249
ISBN 10	1845135245
Titel	Beacon for Change
Autor	Barry Turner
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Hardback
Verlag	Quarto Publishing PLC
Erscheinungsjahr	2011-04-24
Seitenanzahl	288
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar