Shadow Sites

At certain times of the day - at sunrise, and sunset - the outlines of prehistoric fields, barrows and hill-forts in the British landscape may be thrown into relief. Such 'shadow sites', best seen from above, and captured by an airborne camera, are both examples of, and metaphors for, a particular way of seeing the landscape. At a time of rapid modernisation and urbanisation in mid-twentieth-century Britain, an archaeological vision of the British landscapereassured and enchanted a number of writers, artists, photographers, and film-makers. From John Piper, Eric Ravilious and Shell guide books, to photographs of bomb damage, aerial archaeology, and The Wizard of Oz, Kitty Hauser delves into evocative interpretations of the landscape and looks at theaffinities between photography as a medium to capture traces of the past as well as their absence.

She brings a new and highly revealing eye to the neo-romantic landscape, Kitty Hauser's significant new book...offers a valuable account of the development of aerial archaeology from its origins to the 1950s, This book speaks eloquently, with intricate sophistication but not a trace of obscurity, to a multi-disciplinary audience. It is, besides an exquisite product - lavishly and pertinently illustrated, almost immaculately copy-edited and proofed (still an OUP speciality), and gorgeously written, ...brilliantly suggestive of how historical consciousness in modern Britain can be inspirational and creative, and need not be anti-modern., Hauser offers lively, detailed descriptions and analyses, as well as colourful and relevant historical accounts.

Kitty Hauser is a historian of visual and material culture who has written for publications including the New Left Review, the Burlington Magazine, and the London Review of Books. Previously a research fellowship at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, she has also taught at the London College of Fashion and the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford. She is currently Research Fellow at the University of Sydney.