From Archaeology to Spectacle in Victorian Britain: The Case of Assyria

In his examination of the excavation of ancient Assyria by Austen Henry Layard, Shawn Malley reveals how, by whom, and for what reasons, the stones of Assyria were deployed during a brief but remarkably intense period of archaeological activity in the mid-nineteenth century. His book takes up issues of museumship, popular entertainment, class, espionage and imperial conquest, to show how the stones of Assyria resonated in debates far beyond the interests of religious and scientific groups.