EBOOK Reconstructing the Body:Classicism, Modernism, and the First World War

The First World War mangled faces, blew away limbs, and ruined nerves. Ten million        dead, twenty million severe casualties, and eight million people with permanent        disabilities - modern war inflicted pain and suffering with unsparing, mechanical        efficiency. However, such horror was not the entire story. People also rebuilt their        lives, their communities, and their bodies. From the ashes of war rose beauty,        eroticism, and the promise of utopia.Ana Carden-Coyne investigates the cultures of        resilience and the institutions of reconstruction in Britain, Australia, and the        United States. Immersed in efforts to heal the consequences of violence and triumph        over adversity, reconstruction inspired politicians, professionals, and individuals        to transform themselves and their societies.Bodies were not to remain locked away as        tortured memories. Instead, they became the subjects of outspoken debate, the        objects of rehabilitation, and commodities of desire in global industries.          Governments, physicians, beauty and body therapists, monument designers and visual        artists looked to classicism and modernism as the tools for rebuilding civilization        and its citizens. What better response to loss of life, limb, and mind than a body        reconstructed?