The image of the archaeologist as adventurous explorer of foreign lands, part spy, part foreigner, eternally alluring, solidified during this period. That legacy continues, undimmed, today.
Praise for Archaeologists in Print
This beautifully written book will be valued by all kinds of readers: you don't need to be an archaeologist to enjoy the contents, which take you through different publishing histories of archaeological texts and the authors who wrote them. From the productive partnership of travel guide with archaeological interest, to the women who feature so often in the history of archaeological publishing, via closer analysis of the impact of John Murray, Macmillan and Co, and Penguin, this volume excavates layers of fascinating facts that reveal much of the wider culture of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The prose is clear and the stories compulsive: Thornton brings to life a cast of people whose passion for their profession lives again in these pages. ┬а
Warning: the final chapter, on Archaeological Fictions, will fill your to-be-read list with stacks of new titles to investigate! ┬аThis is a highly readable, accessible exploration into the dynamic relationships between academic authors, publishers, and readers. It is, in addition, an exemplar of how academic research can attract a wide general readership, as well as a more specialised one: a stellar combination of rigorous scholarship with lucid, pacy prose. Highly recommended!'
Samantha Rayner, Director of UCL Centre for Publishing; Deputy Head of Department and Director of Studies, Department of Information Studies, UCL
Amara Thornton is an Honorary Research Associate at the UCL Institute of Archaeology and a historian of archaeology. Her PhD explored the social history of British archaeologists working in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East between 1870 and 1939. Amara held a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship from 2013 to 2016, has been Coordinator of the InstituteтАЩs History of Archaeology Network since 2010, and is Principal Investigator of Filming Antiquity, a digitisation and research project for historic archaeology footage from the 1930s-1950s. She blogs on her research at www.readingroomnotes.com.