Zouave Theaters - by Carol E Harrison & Thomas J Brown (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In this compelling new study, Carol E. Harrison and Thomas J. Brown chart the rise and fall of the Zouave uniform, the nineteenth century's most important military fashion fad for men and women on both sides of the Atlantic. Originating in French colonial Algeria, the uniform was characterized by an open, collarless jacket, baggy trousers, and a fez. As Harrison and Brown demonstrate, the Zouaves embraced ethnic, racial, and gender crossing, liberating themselves from the strictures of bourgeois society. Some served as soldiers in Papal Rome, the United States, the British West Indies, and Brazil, while others acted in theatrical performances that combined drag and drill. Zouave Theaters analyzes the interaction of the stage and the military, and reveals that the Zouave persona influenced visual artists from painters and photographers to illustrators and filmmakers.

Review Quotes

"Harrison and Brown comprehensively trace the history, meaning, evolution, and decline of the Zouave soldiers. . . . Zouave Theaters contributes significantly to the literature of transnational and military history and material culture. Its compelling examples and excellent illustrations bring the authors' points to life."--Journal of Southern History

"This is the first scholarly, transnational study of Zouaves not just in the military but as a wider cultural phenomenon. Expansive in scope and engagingly written, Zouave Theaters makes a tremendously valuable contribution to the fields of American and European cultural and military history."--Lesley J. Gordon, author of A Broken Regiment: The 16th Connecticut's Civil War

"A brilliant and riveting book that chronicles the history of Zouaves all over the world. The uniform makes the soldier, or in this case, the uniform provides a unique and fascinating way to understand and compare military culture and its role in different societies."--Ty Seidule, author of Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause

"A rollicking account of military derring-do and theater with a sweeping global approach that sheds new light on war, colonialism, and popular culture in the nineteenth century. A triumph."--Robert Gildea, author of Empires of the Mind: The Colonial Past and the Politics of the Present

"In both France and the United States, Zouaves have been cultural Forrest Gumps, bopping up in all of the right places. Transnational history at its finest, Zouave Theaters is a must-read for anyone interested in military history, fashion history, the history of theater, French history, or American history."--Stephen L. Harp, author of The Riviera, Exposed: An Ecohistory of Postwar Tourism and North African Labor

About the Author

Carol E. Harrison is professor of history at the University of South Carolina and the author of Romantic Catholics: France's Postrevolutionary Generation in Search of a Modern Faith.

Thomas J. Brown is professor of history at the University of South Carolina and author of Civil War Monuments and the Militarization of America.