From the Publisher
“I enjoyed this book from the very beginning. Its fundamental thesis is as simple as it is convincing. Ideals of beauty must always be grasped as (historically variable) self-descriptions of society. Well-researched and readable, this study makes an exemplary contribution to the history of science and culture.” (Luca Giuliani, Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany and author of Image and Myth: A History of Pictorial Narration in Greek Art)
“This compelling and masterfully researched book shows that what a society sees as beautiful, and the steps taken to achieve beauty and body ideals, has a deep, rich, and changing history. How Germans adorned themselves, how they altered and transformed their faces and bodies, constituted in actuality elaborate claims to class identity, gender norms, and social status. Part history of medicine and science, part philosophy, part cultural and business history, this wonderful book will change the way historians think about the potency of personal acts and individual behavior.” (Jennifer V. Evans, Associate Professor, Department of History, Carleton University, Canada and author of Life among the Ruins: Cityscape and Sexuality in Cold War Berlin)
