A History of Love and Hate in 21 Statues

Written by Peter Hughes

Narrated by Peter Hughes

'Fascinating analysis. A great read.’ Julia Hartley-Brewer, TalkRADIO TV Breakfast Show

“This book considers why statues, and their removal, continue to provoke strong emotions. It also tells us the stories of 21 acts of statue destruction, why they took place, and what they tell us about our view of the past.”
BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE

From antiquity to the present day, this book offers a fascinating insight into the histories, movements and conflicts which have come to shape our world, viewed through the stories of the destruction of 21 statues.

Statues stand as markers of collective memory connecting us to a shared sense of belonging. When societies fracture into warring tribes, we convince ourselves that the past is irredeemably evil.   So, we tear down our statues, forgetting that what begins with the destruction of statues, ends with the killing of people.
 
This remarkable book is a compelling history of love and hate spanning every continent, religion and era, told through the destruction of 21 statues. Peter Hughes’ original approach, blending philosophy, psychology and history, explores how these symbols of our identity give us more than an understanding of our past. In the wars that rage around them, they may also hold the key to our future.

The 21 statues are Hatshepsut (Ancient Egypt), Nero (Suffolk, UK), Athena (Syria), Buddhas of Bamiyan (Afghanistan), Hecate (Constantinople), Our Lady of Caversham (near Reading, UK), Huitzilopochtli (Mexico), Confucius (China), Louis XV (France), Mendelssohn (Germany), The Confederate Monument (US), Sir John A. Macdonald (Canada), Christopher Columbus (Venezuela), Edward Colston (Bristol, UK), Cecil Rhodes (South Africa), George Washington (US), Stalin (Hungary), Yagan (Australia), Saddam Hussein (Iraq), B. R. Ambedkar (India) and Frederick Douglass (US).

As statues fall throughout the world, A History of Love and Hate in 21 Statues is a profound and unmissable meditation on identity and a heartfelt plea for tolerance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aurum
• Release date: Sep 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9780711266155

Peter Hughes

Peter Hughes was born in Oxford in 1956. He lived in Italy for several years and continues to find inspiration in Italian literature. He is now based in Cambridge where he runs Oystercatcher Press. He was the 2016/17 Judith E. Wilson Visiting Poetry Fellow at Cambridge University and is a Visiting Fellow at Magdalene College. A Selected Poems came out from Shearsman in 2013 and his versions of the complete sonnets of Petrarch were published by Reality Street in 2015. He is currently working on a project inspired by Leopardi whilst continuing to collaborate with poets including John Hall and Simon Marsh.

Reviews for A History of Love and Hate in 21 Statues

[pomo58 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A History of Love and Hate in 21 Statues by Peter Hughes is an interesting read in some ways but in others, namely his simplistic attempts to justify the status quo under the guise of having a couple of degrees, is not only off-putting but downright ignorant.When sticking to what happened when some of these statues were erected and/or taken down, the reading is okay. Unfortunately he interjects his faux psychologizing and simplistic pseudo philosophy into everything and makes even the interesting sections read like a right wing justification for continued neglect of any but those who fit the dominant image. In other words, this is a long drawn out, and extremely weak, argument for leaving in place any and all monuments no matter what they signify or how much they serve to subtly enforce the status quo. Well, actually, that is exactly why this character supports this, he supports the dominant at the expense and pain of everyone else. I would not recommend this to anyone. Period. Those here in the US who support Qanon already buy into this garbage and anyone who doesn't will think I've lost my mind if I recommended such obvious nonsense. Delusional self-righteous people such as Hughes certainly have every right to write this type of stuff, but those of us with functioning brain cells should find legitimate scholars and thinkers if we want to consider the topic. Not this flunky.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.