What were the social norms of the world that Edward grew up in? (Hint: Bella's guesses were a little off.)
Considering the history of the Quileute people, was Team Jacob always doomed?
What would Jasper have experienced as a Civil War soldier?
Are the Volturi typical Italian Renaissance rulers?
What was childhood like in seventeenth-century London, where Carlisle was born?
The answers to these compelling questions and more can be found inside Twilight and History. Form Renaissance Italy to the persecution of suspected witches in early modern England to the American Civil War, the Cullens and other immortals in the Twilight series have witnessed many of the defining events that shaped the modern world. This book is the first to look at the wealth of history that shaped the identities of Twilight's characters and influenced their actions. With timelines comparing Twilight Saga history with real human history, it is the perfect Twilight companion for history lovers and Twilight fans to bite into, adding a new dimension to the series and providing compelling historical background on Stephenie Meyer's characters and plotlines.
Acknowledgments: For Those Who Turned Us ix
Twilight's Timeline xi
Introduction: Frozen in Time Nancy R. Reagin 1
Part 1 Your Basic Human-Vampire-Werewolf/Shape-shifter Triangle: Bella, Edward, and Jacob
1 "An Old-Fashioned Gentleman"? Edward's Imaginary History Kate Cochran 7
2 Biting Bella: Treaty Negotiation, Quileute History, and Why "Team Jacob" Is Doomed to Lose Judith Leggatt Kristin Burnett 26
3 CinderBella: Twilight, Fairy Tales, and the Twenty-First-Century American Dream Sara Buttsworth 47
4 Courting Edward Cullen: Courtship Rituals and Marital Expectations in Edward's Youth Catherine Coker 70
Part 2 Some Family History: The Cullen Coven
5 Jasper Hale, the Oldest Living Confederate Veteran Elizabeth Baird Hardy 89
6 Smoky Mountain Twilight: The Appalachian Roots of Emmett McCarty Cullen and His Family Elizabeth Baird Hardy 106
7 Better Turned Than "Cured"? Alice and the Asylum Grace Loiacono Laura Loiacono 127
8 Carlisle Cullen and the Witch Hunts of Puritan London Janice Liedl 145
9 A Subtle and Dangerous Gift: Jasper Hale and the Specter of the American Civil War Andrea Robertson Cremer 163
10 Like Other American Families, Only Not: The Cullens and the "Ideal" Family in American History Kyra Glass von der Osten 182
Part 3 A World of Vampires: The Volturi and Beyond
11 The Sort of People Who Hired Michelangelo as Their Decorator: The Volturi as Renaissance Rulers Birgit Wiedl 207
12 "Where Do the Cullens Fit In?": Vampires in European Folklore, Science, and Fiction Eveline Brugger 227
13 Getting Younger Every Decade: Being a Teen Vampire during the Twentieth Century Kat Burkhart 245
The Forks High School Faculty 263
Index: Alice Foresaw All of This 267
dchan
Posted July 10, 2010
I Also Recommend:
Twilight and History, edited by Nancy R. Reagin, is an absolute must for any Twilight fan. Each Cullen was turned during a specific historical, social, and cultural point in history and this context defines each one, and their attitudes, relationships, and behaviors throughout the Saga. I've not only read this book once, I've read it twice, and will go back to it again, because it's informative, entertaining and insightful. Reagin has collected a treasure trove of essays by academics who explore their subjects in readable style.
I enjoyed all the essays (even those with points of view with which I disagreed), but especially those that explored: Quileute history and Jacob; the manners, mores, and courting practices of Edward's day, and why he is more Victorian than cusp-of-Jazz Age Edwardian; why the Voluturi are like the Medicis; how the Cullen teens adapted their roles to fit changing times over the 20th Century, and how Twilight invokes fairy tales and the American Dream (an examination of Meyer's Mormon beliefs would have taken this essay even further-see Spotlight: A Close-Up Look at the Artistry and Meaning of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga by John Granger).
The character studies, though, were my favorites, in particular, Elizabeth Baird Hardy's two essays that rescue Jasper (Southern man) and Emmett (Appalachian man) from tired stereotype, showing how they reflect their times and experiences. Grace Loiacono and Laura Loiacono do a fine job examining the history of mental health treatment and the appalling mental asylums of Alice's day.
Twilight and History is an invaluable companion to the Twilight Saga.
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Posted January 31, 2013
I what dis bookk soooo bad please
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Posted January 26, 2011
boring i meam yawn who cares? the books are fiction! the person has way to much time on their hands!
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Overview
What were the social norms of the world that Edward grew up in? (Hint: Bella's guesses were a little off.)
Considering the history of the Quileute people, was Team Jacob always doomed?
What would Jasper have experienced as a Civil War soldier?
Are the Volturi typical Italian Renaissance rulers?
What was childhood like in seventeenth-century ...