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Lost Empires Nigel Fountain

Lost Empires By Nigel Fountain

Lost Empires by Nigel Fountain


$24.39
Condition - Very Good
Only 3 left

Summary

Music hall was the first mass medium of an industrial age that was dominated by empires. In every city that was part of an empire, there were Empire and imperial music halls, vaudevilles, opera houses, theatres or fledgling cinemas. This book explores the fates of these fallen Empires and Imperials, as well as the stories of the survivors.

Lost Empires Summary

Lost Empires: The Phenomenon of Theatres Past, Present and Future by Nigel Fountain

The story of the music halls that once lit up townscapes, and those that still won't die - the tales of the stars, stooges, crooks, novelty acts, demolition gangs, runaways and diehards who never gave up. Music hall was the first mass medium of an industrial age that was dominated by empires. This meant that in every city that was part of an empire, there were Empire and imperial music halls, vaudevilles, opera houses, theatres or fledgling cinemas filled with prestige, glamour and dreams. Two world wars later, the empires, crumbled, and the Empires and imperials in these cities were fighting dry rot and television. Many lost the fight. But some did not. Lost Empires explores the fates of these fallen Empires and Imperials around the world, as well as the stories of the survivors, such as the splendid St Petersburg Imperial Theatre of the 1870s and the restored Hackney Empire in east London. From Leiden's Theater-imperium to Toowomba Queensland's Empire, we see what links these places of entertainment, and what divides them. Some were saved because activists would not let them die; some were converted to other uses or became symbols of local or national pride.Some simply went up in smoke or collapsed when fraudsters became involved. Some remain derelict, haunted long after the last act walked off their stages. Lost Empires encompasses high art, low life, burlesque, ragtime, rock and roll and Hamlet across the world - from Great Britain to the United States, Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, Vietnam, Russia, Colombia, Japan, Brazil and Holland. Their Empires appear as fascinating pictures, gripping true-life stories or holes in both the ground and in time.

About Nigel Fountain

Nigel Fountain is a historian, broadcaster, journalist and writer. He can frequently be heard on Radio 4's 'The Archive Hour', writes for The Guardian and also wrote the bestselling and award-winning World War 2: The People's Story (Reader's Digest 2003). He is a Hackney Empire Board member and has been passionately interested in the lost Empires since the 1970s, when he discovered Hackney masquerading as a bingo hall.

Additional information

GOR002061556
9781844033454
1844033457
Lost Empires: The Phenomenon of Theatres Past, Present and Future by Nigel Fountain
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Octopus Publishing Group
20051110
160
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

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