Empire of Ruins

"""A superb cultural historian of modernity and photographic representation, Miles Orvell has produced the definitive survey of depictions and interpretations of destruction and ruin from the nineteenth century to the present. The author proposes three successive modes of viewing ruinsDLfrom romantic meditations on the distant past, to the modern era's fascination with continuous demolition and renewal, to our current obsession with future destruction. Flawlessly argued, elegantly written, and illustrated with compellingly selected photographs, Empire of Ruins brings together an eclectic array of sources for interrogating the past and future of American empire."" -- Jeffrey L. Meikle, University of Texas at Austin ""In his latest book, the ever-readable cultural historian Miles Orvell examines a broad range of writers, painters, filmmakers, and photographers who have depicted ruins, both real and imaginary, as a means of fathoming the nature of recurring social crises. Orvell helps us see how decaying cities, abandoned factories, and polluted natural resources have historically been accepted by our leaders as the cost of doing business. This provocative analysis by one of America's finest practitioners of urban, cultural, and photographic studies reconsiders a once-vital topic that has itself fallen into ruins. His book restores the topic to its rightful place as our institutions and environment alike face the threat of irreversible decline."" -- David M. Lubin, author of Grand Illusions: American Art and the First World War ""RuinsDLfrom the decay of inner cities to natural and unnatural disastersDLare an inescapable fact of American life. This very fine book tackles a fascinating topic, covering a broad span of time in an admirably concise and compelling way. The main focus is on the built environment in the United States, from buildings to entire cities. No other book considers photography, ruin, and American culture so broadly."" -- Cécile Whiting, University of California, Irvine ""Orvell here proposes a genreDLruin photographyDLwith its own aesthetics and morality, and persuasively argues that camera pictures of ruins in America have made us conscious of time in a particular way. He demonstrates how contemplating our own ruination might be just what we need right now."" -- Douglas Nickel, Brown University"