{"product_id":"9780008365103_catland-feline-enchantment-and-the-making-of-the-modern-world","title":"Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*Shortlisted for the Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize*\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA \u003cem\u003eTimes \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e Book of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA \u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e Book of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA \u003cem\u003eSpectator \u003c\/em\u003eBook of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA \u003cem\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/em\u003e Book of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA \u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e Book of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSome called it a craze. To others it was a cult. Join prize-winning historian Kathryn Hughes to discover how Britain fell in love with cats and ushered in a new era.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Smart, gorgeously written cultural history’ \u003cem\u003eTLS\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Delightful’ \u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Excellent’ \u003cem\u003eSpectator\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Joyous cultural history’ \u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e‘He invented a whole cat world’\u003c\/em\u003e declared H. G. Wells of Louis Wain, the Edwardian artist whose anthropomorphic kittens made him a household name. His drawings were irresistible but \u003cem\u003eCatland\u003c\/em\u003e was more than the creation of one eccentric imagination. It was an attitude – a way of being in society while discreetly refusing to follow its rules.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs cat capitalism boomed in the spectacular Edwardian age, prized animals changed hands for hundreds of pounds and a new industry sprung up to cater for their every need. Cats were no longer basement-dwelling pest-controllers, but stylish cultural subversives, more likely to flaunt a magnificent ruff and a pedigree from Persia. Wherever you found old conventions breaking down, there was a cat at the centre of the storm.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhether they were flying aeroplanes, sipping champagne or arguing about politics, Wain’s feline cast offered a sly take on the restless and risky culture of the post-Victorian world. No-one experienced these uncertainties more acutely than Wain himself, confined to a mental asylum while creating his most iconic work. \u003cem\u003eCatland\u003c\/em\u003e is a fascinating and fabulous unravelling of our obsession with cats, and the man dedicated to chronicling them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Through humour, elegance and sheer knowledge, Hughes builds something remarkable’ \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘If a Louis Wain cat were reading this book, he would raise his topper in tribute’ \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eCatland\u003c\/em\u003e is a tour de force of (cat) history: sleek, elegant and razor-sharp when needed’ \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eHistory Today\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Excellent … Hughes reveals a fascinating, forgotten aspect of late Victorian and Edwardian Britain: how the British fell in love with felines’ \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘An entertaining and often surprising cultural history … typically delivered in an inviting spirit of delight’ \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kathryn Hughes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46898370773141,"sku":"9780008365103","price":52.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780008365103_e78f49a8-713b-4b95-a192-ff948a08ce46.jpg?v=1776888469","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780008365103_catland-feline-enchantment-and-the-making-of-the-modern-world","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}