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Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of America's Public Monuments Hardcover – February 8, 2022

by Erin L. Thompson (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 32 ratings
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A leading expert on the past, present, and future of public monuments in America.

An urgent and fractious national debate over public monuments has erupted in America. Some people risk imprisonment to tear down long-ignored hunks of marble; others form armed patrols to defend them. Why do we care so much about statues? Which ones should stay up and which should come down? Who should make these decisions, and how?

Erin L. Thompson, the country’s leading expert in the tangled aesthetic, legal, political, and social issues involved in such battles, brings much-needed clarity in Smashing Statues. She lays bare the turbulent history of American monuments and its abundant ironies, from the enslaved man who helped make the statue of Freedom that tops the United States Capitol, to the fervent Klansman fired from sculpting the world’s largest Confederate monument―who went on to carve Mount Rushmore. And she explores the surprising motivations behind contemporary flashpoints, including the toppling of a statue of Columbus at the Minnesota State Capitol, the question of who should be represented on the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park, and the decision by a museum of African American culture to display a Confederate monument removed from a public park.

Written with great verve and informed by a keen sense of American history, Smashing Statues gives readers the context they need to consider the fundamental questions for rebuilding not only our public landscape but our nation as a whole: Whose voices must be heard, and whose pain must remain private?

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    February 8, 2022
  5. Dimensions
    5.9 x 1.1 x 8.6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393867676
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393867671
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

Smashing Statues by Erin L. Thompson

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Comprehensive….Thompson provides a compelling, historical account of how capitalism is both motivator and maintainer of institutional racism….Her examination of 'art crime' as central to understanding our shameful United States history is captivating."
― Jack Christian, Los Angeles Review of Books

"A crisply written book encompassing law, art, history and politics that contextualizes the American debate over monuments."
― Library Journal (starred review)

"Offers a probing examination of the meaning of public monuments…A well-informed, often surprising, history of public veneration."
― Kirkus Reviews

"[A] trenchant account…Full of intriguing historical tidbits and incisive cultural analysis, this is a worthy study of a complex and controversial issue."
― Publishers Weekly

From the Back Cover

The real stories behind some of America’s most famed statues:

• Mount Rushmore

• The Freedom statue atop the United States Capitol Building

• Stone Mountain

• The first monument honoring historical women in New York City’s Central Park

• The North Carolina State Confederate Monument

• Christopher Columbus, toppled in Minnesota

• The Confederate monument removed from Birmingham, Alabama

• The controversial Freedmen’s Memorial in Washington, DC

…and more.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company (February 8, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393867676
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393867671
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 1.1 x 8.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 32 ratings

About the author

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Erin L. Thompson

Erin L. Thompson

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
32 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

John Eliott
5.0 out of 5 stars Great information
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
Everyone needs to know the history in this book. Eye-opening facts.
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TOM CROCKETT
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2022
Verified Purchase
Reading for a book club
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Jupes
4.0 out of 5 stars True eye-opener
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2022
Verified Purchase
After reading this book, I will never look at statues or monuments the same way again. Thanks to the facts this books points out, I'm finally truly seeing what these homages stand for. This book is a must read if you want to challenge what you think you already know.
2 people found this helpful
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SpaceOnTheBookcase
5.0 out of 5 stars Important Facts Every American Should Know
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2022
Smashing Statues by Erin L. Thompson takes the reader on a journey throughout American history and it’s turbulent and divisive relationship with statues. Specifically statues and monuments surrounding the Confederate movement, slavery and American figureheads.

What struck me the most while listening to this eBook was how much I didn’t know. Of course, you’d have to be living under a rock to miss the culture shift happening across the nation but the history of what statues and monuments we have, who paid for them, who fought to keep them, the laws that now protect them…etc, are not exactly taught in history class. At least, not in any high school or undergrad American history class I ever took.

The authors focus on Stone Mountain, located not far from Atlanta, Georgia churned my stomach the most. I remember vacationing there as a child with my family but I didn’t know about the prison (read slave) labor that constructed it. My understanding of the confederacy, at that age anyway, was very rudimentary. Erin L. Thompson has inspired me to dig more so that my children, now the same age I was, will not remain ignorant.

Overall I thought the ebook was well written and flowed well. It is heavy on dates and people, so I took it in by chunking instead of just listening straight through, but I don’t think that is a bad thing.

Smashing Statues will be released on 2/8/22. I plan to buy and donate copies of this book to my daughters schools.

Thank you to @netgalley, OrangeSky Audio and author, Erin L. Thompson for allowing me access to an eARC copy in exchange for a honest review.
9 people found this helpful
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Gregg A Granger
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Timely
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2022
Well-written. The author is not only an art historian, but a talented wordsmith as well.
The book has many fascinating stories of questionable ethics in the commissioning, creation, preservation and/or removal of our monuments.
4 people found this helpful
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Dennis M
1.0 out of 5 stars Fake scholarship
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024
This ‘scholar’ was advocating and giving advice for toppling statues in the Summer of Love, 2020 Version. This book is how to pose as an intellectual while fulfilling your Marxist duty as an activist. Dishonest and cringe.
5 people found this helpful
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Bermelho
2.0 out of 5 stars Yes, it is biased.
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2023
Verified Purchase
What I liked:

I learned a lot about Confederate monuments, their malign intentions in keeping the "Lost Cause" alive. Very interesting history about who built the monuments and who paid for them. Also, the recognition that not all slave holders' descendants (such as the case of Edmund Ruffin) want to keep confederate monuments up.

What I did not like:

For somebody who cares so much about history silences, she completely ignored the other side: African Americans who do not want the monuments down, either Democrats or Republicans. Andrew Young, former Mayor of Atlanta comes to mind. Other African conservative voices should have been included. The book would've been richer and more complete. Additionally, some history "cherry picking" on immigrants and their relationship with their statues based exclusively on racial motivations which is historically inaccurate.
7 people found this helpful
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B.A. Klapper
4.0 out of 5 stars Good but short
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2023
Very interesting and informative but I wish that this book was longer. There are extra details in the notes but I need to return this to the library.
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