Book Review of Uproar by Alice Loxton
This book tells the story of the late Georgian satirical print industry. As a Georgian lover, I was kindly given this as a Christmas present and was very keen to get into it. Whether you have heard of the names of Thomas Rowlandson, James Gillray and Isaac Cruickshank, or not, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read. I had heard of them, as well as the author Alice Loxton, who I have seen on quite a few history programmes on the TV lately, but I feel that you wouldn’t need to know much about them as this books tells you all, alongside placing them, and their satirical prints, in the context they were in, including social, political and even gender based context. This gives a greater understanding for the figures and events being lampooned by the artists, that would otherwise feel lost to a modern reader.
Just as the period Georgian itself is witty, subversive and deeply entertaining, you will find all this and more in Loxton’s book. It is wonderfully written and in such an accessible way that I think this book would appeal to most readers. It is clear from her writing, that Loxton has such a passion for the subject that made me find the book hard to put down. This greatly adds to the book being an easy and enjoyable read.
Despite being a fan of the Georgians and knowing some of the satirical caricatures mentioned in the book, I learnt more than I was expecting to. As the author mentions towards the book, sadly, these artists, and the print sellers who displayed the prints in their shop windows, have been somewhat lost to history but those who, like me, are a bit more of a die hard Georgian fan. Loxton has done them a wonderful homage in this book to try and offset that. I would now have loved to have a conversation with the artists in a Georgian coffee house in London, but sadly, one can only dream.
The only thing that I found a slight issue was that, sometimes, there wasn’t enough images for the prints that were mentioned. As an author myself though, I understand that it might not be practical to get enough images to cover what your topic is, especially something as all encompassing as this particular book. Still, this isn’t a great issue as most of the images mentioned can easily be viewed online if necessary.
My particular favourite in this book was Hannah Humphrey, the female print seller who sold most of James Gillray’s prints. Her started off in the business by working for family members, before going it alone. She was Gillray’s greatest supporter. Not much is known about her, but I hope to write about her on this blog at some point in the future.
In general, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Georgian period, politics/political history, satire or art. This would fill in that gap, as well as being a great crossover for all of those topics too. I would also recommend this book for anyone wanting to get started into the Georgian period, but wouldn’t really know where to start.
Comments