John O'Brien's Harlequin Britain is an original and provocative study of the ways in which pantomime, entertainment, and modernity are entwined in English culture. It adds significantly to our understanding of the role of the theater in the early eighteenth century and makes a compelling case for the significance of theatrical performance to the emergence of the Habermasian bourgeois public sphere. -- Robert Markley, University of Illinois
John O'Brien is the NEH Daniels Family Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Virginia.
A good read for even the most casual theater historian. Choice A complex, rich work... an original, important contribution to the history of the body and to political culture. American Historical Review This well argued text on pantomime offers a fascinating investigation of a subgenre of British theater. Scriblerian He develops his micro-history of the growth and changes in British life with finesse and precision and a rich grasp of detail. -- David Mayer Theatre Notebook A good example of how to write cultural history today. -- Jacky Bratton Journal of British Studies For readers who share O'Brien's intellectual priorities, this book may well come to be regarded as an important contribution. -- David A. Brewer Modern Philology
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