Red: A History of the Redhead
Description
New Summer Must Reads from Harper's Bazaar - ' ON FIRE - in RED: A History of the Redhead, author Jacky Colliss Harvey.... examines age-old portrayals and notions about redheads in art, science and religion.' US Vogue , June 2015 : 'The magnetic appeal of red hair... is the subject of a fascinating new book, RED: A History of the Redhead, by Jacky Colliss Harvey - herself one of the tribe.'"A beautiful book - gorgeous cover, beautifully designed... [and] really fascinating and interesting." Book Riot , June 10, 2015 Elle Magazine "....to call the book merely a history doesn't seem to cover the manifold angles woven into the text. Harvey's intelligent exploration accomplishes the sought-after end of achieving universality from specificity... Red is an important, fascinating read for redheads--and others--everywhere." Booklist Online , 1 June 2015: 'Witty, wide-ranging study... comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable' ...xa0this witty, wide-ranging study examines red hair through the lenses of art, literature, science, sexuality, culture, religion, and politics. Fascinating facts abound.... Old wives' tales, scientific discoveries, historical accounts, fads in fashion, and trends in the arts are mined to great effect, resulting in a comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable narrative embellished with stunning illustrations and photographs.' The Washington Post : "engaging... light-hearted but erudite history, relevant even to readers who have never tried to get away with calling their hair 'Titian'."According to Grant McCracker, author of Big Hair: A Journey into The Transformation of Self (1995), "The study of hair does not take you to the superficial edges of our society... It takes you, instead, to the center of things." In Red, Harvey drills down to that center to find a mother lode of lore and more about the hair color found in just two per cent of the world's population. Beginning with our earliest ancestors and continuing down through the ages, this witty, wide-ranging study examines red hair through the lenses of art, literature, science, sexuality, culture, religion and politics. Fascinating facts abound. For example, we learn that the gene for red hair did not originate in Ireland or Scotland, as we might expect, but in the people who migrated from Africa to the grasslands of central Asia and, eventually, into Europe. Old wives' tales, scientific discoveries, historical accounts, fads in fashion, and trends in the arts are mined to great effect, resulting in a comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable narrative embellished with stunning illustrations and photographs.― Carolyn Mulac, Booklist What did Mark Twain and Mary Magdalene have in common with the author of this book? Red hair. Harvey uses her hair color as a lens to explore the history of mankind. She starts by detailing how some stray red-hair genes in Africa made their way across the planet, turning up years later in the Nordic north. She explores ages when red hair enjoyed huge popularity, like under England’s titian-haired Tudors Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, and debunks some common stereotypes, like those perpetuated by zany Lucille Ball and the temperamental Viking god Thor. A colorful take on human perceptions and beliefs. New Yorkxa0Post 'This Week's Must-Reads' What did Mark Twain and Mary Magdalene have in common with the author of this book? Red hair. Harvey uses her hair color as a lens to explore the history of mankind. She starts by detailing how some stray red-hair genes in Africa made their way across the planet, turning up years later in the Nordic north. She explores ages when red hair enjoyed huge popularity, like under England's titian-haired Tudors Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, and debunks some common stereotypes, like those perpetuated by zany Lucille Ball and the temperamental Viking god Thor. A colorful take on human perceptions and beliefs. Jacky Colliss Harvey is a writer and editor, and the author of Red: A History of the Redhead and My Life As A Redhead: A Journal . She studied English at Cambridge University and art history at the Courtauld Institute. She has worked in museum publishing and is a commentator and reviewer who speaks on the arts and their relation to popular culture. She divides her time between London and New York. Read more
Features & Highlights
- Red
- is a brilliantly told, captivating history of red hair throughout the ages. A book that breaks new ground, dispels myths, and reinforces the special nature of being a redhead, with a look at multiple disciplines, including science, religion, politics, feminism and sexuality, literature, and art.
- With an obsessive fascination that is as contagious as it is compelling, author Jacky Colliss Harvey (herself a redhead) begins her exploration of red hair in prehistory and traces the redhead gene as it made its way out of Africa with the early human diaspora to its emergence under Northern skies. She goes on to explore red hair in the ancient world; the prejudice manifested against red hair across medieval Europe; red hair during the Renaissance as both an indicator of Jewishness during the Inquisition and the height of fashion in Protestant England, under the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I; the modern age of art and literature, and the first positive symbols of red hair in children's characters; modern medicine and science and the genetic and chemical decoding of red hair; and finally, red hair in contemporary culture, from advertising and exploitation to "gingerism" and the new movement against bullying.
