The Man in the Bowler Hat: His History and Iconography

Reflects a new understanding of modernism by following the fortunes of a single item of fashion.

"When Fred Miller Robinson tugs the bowler from the closet in The Man in the Bowler Hat: His History and Iconography, a wealth of cultural and social baggage comes tumbling out after it.--Esquire

"Entertaining and enlightening. . . . A scholarly, thoughtful, and well-documented cultural critique.--Journal of Popular Culture

"A hundred years of Western culture pulled out of a bowler hat--its quite a trick, and Robinson accomplishes it with considerable flourish.--Roger Shattuck, Boston University

"An attempt to penetrate the bowlers significance in art, literature, and life. . . . [Robinson] has ferreted out plenty of curious and varied information, he has some nice observations of detail, and he offers a good deal to enlighten and amuse.--New Yorker

"A witty, well-written, scrupulously researched book that is a wonderful fusion of genres: social history, cultural history, and something that falls between belles lettres and fiction.--Dore Ashton, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Originally published in 1993.

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