As part of the “beaten track”, Germany did not conform to the Grand Tourist ideals of eighteenth-century British travellers that were influenced by the spirit of the Enlightenment, and, therefore, sought to trace vestiges of the Greco-Roman cultural tradition in their ventures across the continent. It was not until the end of the eighteenth century that the German landscape becomes the central theme of British travel discourse, marking the gradual shift of focus from the “saturated” image of classical Greece to the rediscovery of the Old Germanic culture of the sagas. Driven by an antiquarian interest in the German context, British travellers discovered Germany in the wake of the nineteenth century, when the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire not only signalled French expansionism in Protestant Europe, but also stimulated the appetite of the Victorians for the exploration of the German culture in an attempt to define themselves as being of pure Teutonic stock. Given the strenuous struggle of German thinkers to deal with the feelings of humiliation and shame caused by the Napoleonic rule, and, in view of a potential Gallicisation, nineteenth-century Germans mastered the fields of comparative philology and Northern antiquarianism to transform their political weakness into a new cultural paradigm that not only fostered pan-Germanism through the rediscovery of the folk tales and legends of their medieval tradition, but also ascribed to Germany a superior spiritual role, which was later incorporated into the racial discourses of Germany and Britain. This book is concerned with the views of British travel writers, focusing on travel narratives produced from 1794 until 1845. As such, it sheds light on instances which pertain to the representation of Germanness in relation to the British national context.

As part of the â oebeaten trackâ , Germany did not conform to the Grand Tourist ideals of eighteenth-century British travellers that were influenced by the spirit of the Enlightenment, and, therefore, sought to trace vestiges of the Greco-Roman cultural tradition in their ventures across the continent. It was not until the end of the eighteenth century that the German landscape becomes the central theme of British travel discourse, marking the gradual shift of focus from the â oesaturatedâ image of classical Greece to the rediscovery of the Old Germanic culture of the sagas. Driven by an antiquarian interest in the German context, British travellers discovered Germany in the wake of the nineteenth century, when the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire not only signalled French expansionism in Protestant Europe, but also stimulated the appetite of the Victorians for the exploration of the German culture in an attempt to define themselves as being of pure Teutonic stock. Given the strenuous struggle of German thinkers to deal with the feelings of humiliation and shame caused by the Napoleonic rule, and, in view of a potential Gallicisation, nineteenth-century Germans mastered the fields of comparative philology and Northern antiquarianism to transform their political weakness into a new cultural paradigm that not only fostered pan-Germanism through the rediscovery of the folk tales and legends of their medieval tradition, but also ascribed to Germany a superior spiritual role, which was later incorporated into the racial discourses of Germany and Britain. This book is concerned with the views of British travel writers, focusing on travel narratives produced from 1794 until 1845. As such, it sheds light on instances which pertain to the representation of Germanness in relation to the British national context.

Situated between Europe and Asia, Russia has systematically challenged the European theories attached to nationhood due to its geopolitical and cultural peculiarities. After the rise of European nationalist movements, imperial Russia posed a threat to the very existence of the Germanic empires of Britain, Germany and Austria, and was frequently evoked to epitomise European barbarism, paganism, despotism and the Orient. In its struggle to acquire a new identity, which would bridge the gap with Western empires, Russia could not conform to the rising Anglo-Saxon movements that sought to glorify Nordic supremacy at the expense of the Oriental Other. Drawing upon this binary opposition between the Orient and the Occident, the Russian Empire concentrated on the development of its own nation-building theories, which managed to incorporate the ascending Pan-Slavic wave into its nationalist agenda. The anti-Western rhetoric that often characterised Russian politics contributed to the subversion of the conventional Western perspective of the Orient and the emergence of Eurasianism as a political theory that exalted the different traits of its imperial system. This book sets the focus on the representations of the Russian Empire from 1792 until 1912 in the field of travel literature. To this end, it selects British and American travel narratives of the aforementioned period to explore all aspects of Russian identity and culture. For this reason, it addresses major issues attached to Russian history and culture that were investigated by Western travellers in their attempt to approach the Russian Empire.

British Images of Germany is the first full-length cultural history of Britain's relationship with Germany in the key period leading up to the First World War. Richard Scully reassesses what is imagined to be a fraught relationship, illuminating the sense of kinship Britons felt for Germany even in times of diplomatic tension.

Travelers in the Third Reich is an extraordinary history of the rise of the Nazis based on fascinating first-hand accounts, drawing together a multitude of voices and stories, including politicians, musicians, diplomats, schoolchildren, communists, scholars, athletes, poets, fascists, artists, tourists, and even celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Samuel Beckett. Their experiences create a remarkable three-dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler—one so palpable that the reader will feel, hear, even breathe the atmosphere.These are the accidental eyewitnesses to history. Disturbing, absurd, moving, and ranging from the deeply trivial to the deeply tragic, their tales give a fresh insight into the complexities of the Third Reich, its paradoxes, and its ultimate destruction.

How did Victorian travellers define and challenge the notion of Empire? How did the multiple forms of Victorian travel literature, such as fiction, travel accounts, newspapers, and poetry, shape perceptions of imperial and national spaces, in the British context and beyond? This collection examines how, in the Victorian era, space and empire were shaped around the notion of boundaries, by travel narratives and practices, and from a variety of methodological and critical perspectives. From the travel writings of artists and polymaths such as Carmen Sylva and Richard Burton, to a reassessment of Rudyard Kipling’s, H. G. Wells’s and Julia Pardoe’s cross-cultural and cross-gender travels, this collection assesses a broad range of canonical and lesser-studied Victorian travel texts and genres, and evaluates the representation of empires, nations, and individual identity in travel accounts covering Europe, Asia, Africa and Britain.

Of all the parts of the world to interest the Victorians, Germany was among the most important. Though less well known today, partly in consequence of the events of the twentieth century, German influences in Britain were strong, and their legacy substantial. This book charts the emergence, development and course of the Victorian interest in Germany. Its multidisciplinary approach, which binds together for the first time the latest research conducted in a variety of areas, shows how a discourse developed in Britain regarding Germany and the Germans which spilled over from one area of life to another, and included some of the most prominent figures in Victorian life. It provides a framework for understanding the causes of the Victorian fascination with Germany, and argues forcefully that the roots of this lay in the processes of modernisation taking place in each place respectively. It also points to the deep impact this had upon the course of British history and reveals how it prepared the ground for the future direction of Anglo-German relations.