Histories of Tourism: Representation, Identity and Conflict

Histories of Tourism: Representation, Identity and Conflict, edited by John K. Walton, is a collection of essays developing the historical dimension to tourism studies through thematic case studies. The editor's introduction argues for the importance of a closer relationship between history and tourism studies, and an international team of contributors explores the relationships between tourism, representations, environments and identities in settings ranging from the global to the local, from the Roman Empire to the twentieth century, and from Frinton to the 'Far East'.

It is intended as a response to, and a stimulus for, the growing visibility of the history of tourism as an essential component both of historical understanding and of the development of a grounded, humanistic dimension to the increasingly interdisciplinary ventures that come under the label of tourism studies. It is clear that the history of tourism is (at last) developing as an exciting and dynamic field.

A collection of independent chapters that began as conference papers, this volume offers readers a wide variety of topics, particularly on the history of tourism in Britain and German-speaking Europe. In a solid introduction, editor John K. Walton lays out a primary objective, which is to try to bridge the gap between the largely ahistorical field of "tourism studies" and the history of tourism as practiced by historians. Like other such collections, there is no unifying thesis, and the quality of contributions varies widely.

Nevertheless, many of the essays are thought-provoking contributions both to their individual national subfields and to the history of tourism more generally. John M. MacKenzie's "Empires of Travel: British Guide Books and Cultural Imperialism in the 19th and 20th Centuries", for example, explores the contents of guidebooks tied to the imperial cruise lines. Complementing much recent work on guide-books used within Europe, MacKenzie's study reveals how the guides offered up an intricately detailed imperial mindset that could simultaneously reflect readers' assumptions and help to craft them.

• Encadernação: capa mole
• Ano: 2005
• Páginas: 244
• Dimensões: 21 x 14,8 cm