In Ruins: A Journey Through History, Art, and Literature

by Christopher Woodward

In this enchanting meditation on ruins, Christopher Woodward takes us on a thousand-year journey from the plains of Troy to the monuments of ancient Rome, from the crumbling palaces of Sicily, Cuba, and Zanzibar to the rubble of the London Blitz. With an exquisite sense of romantic melancholy, we encounter the teenage Byron in the moldering Newstead Abbey, Flaubert watching the buzzards on the pyramids, Henry James in the Colosseum, and Freud at Pompeii. We travel the Appian Way with Dickens and behold the Baths of Caracalla with Shelley. An exhilarating tour, at once elegant and stimulating, In Ruins casts an exalting spell as it explores the bewitching power of architectural remains and their persistent hold on the imagination.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Architecture, Art, Archaeology, Philosophy, Travel

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Dilushani Jayalath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers a captivating exploration of historical ruins throughout the ages, presenting a distinctive perspective for those seeking a fresh outlook. Honestly speaking, were it not for my thesis, I may not have opted to read this book; nevertheless, I am grateful that even that led me to read this wonderful book. The book encompasses a plethora of intriguing facts, although not all assertions are incontrovertibly substantiated. Paradoxically, it is precisely this lack of absolute certainty that renders the book all the more captivating. The study of ruins and the appreciation thereof elude confinement within a strictly scientific framework. Numerous elements, such as personal viewpoints and cultural disparities, can profoundly influence an individual's assessment and appreciation of ruins. Woods skillfully highlights numerous captivating instances, even in the absence of definitive conclusions but highlights a myriad of thought-provoking anecdotes that encourage contemplation on the subject matter.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read some pretty snippy and negative reviews about this book and I disagree with all criticisms because I have been fascinated by ruins, whether those of ancient times or fake 'ruins', since I was a little boy and even more so by the age of 13 when I read Rose Macauley's 'The Pleasure of Ruins' that 'ruins' were in the 18th century manufactured wholesale to provide 'places of interest' in the 'views' created by the great French and English gardeners. and designed to house a 'hermit' to provide extra atmosphere.

So this is a book about ruins and about how we react to them. It is also a book about writers and ruins and what ruins are, etc. If it is connected to ruins Woodward will mention it. I found it delightful and it is a favourite book.

[Jonfaith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A callow monograph that fails to deliver on its driving ambition. Preoccupied perhaps with dispersing personal details, including photos of his wife, the author makes an interesting case and walks away in almost half sentence. What we have is a nice collage of images and citations: a Sebald without a soul--and yes WGS is quoted at length. The book did deliver some interesting detail-- like the post-boxing life of Marvin Hagler and what appears to be an intriguing bookThe World My Wilderness. The book concludes with Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa , a fitting figure with an eye to the past.

[Larissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unexpectedly romantic book, which interweaves artistic and historical vignettes with Woodward's personal experiences in the ruins of Italy and Britain. Woodward sees ruins as deeply meaningful and aesthetically important structures in their own right, and argues against reconstructions which might scrub away the charms of buildings fallen into abandonment and decay. He provides numerous examples of painters, authors, and architects inspired by their contemplation of ancient or modern ruins, and meditates on the experience of communing with a slowly disintegrating past. This is an idiosyncratic work but also a very informative one, and an invitation to reconsider ideas of ruins and ruination.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

poetic, and intellectually delightful. nonfiction unlike anything I have read in a long while, the kind that makes you realize you had suppressed a wondering curiosity, a reader's hunger you didn't know you had. not just about history, or architecture, or memory, it's much more about dreams and fantasies of what is lost to us, and how they push people to re-create phantasms of the past, places to think with, essentially. If you liked Stoppard's Arcadia, dont miss this.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this gem possesses a great combination--he has impressive scholarly qualifications (he is a museum director in England), and he is also a gifted writer. He gently leads us through the world of the appreciation of the utter beauty and inspiration of the ruins of Europe. You'll learn so much, and it's a wonderful journey.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

very enjoyable and edifying read about the perception of ruins from antiquity to the present, which might sound utterly boring to you, but i was caught up in the writer's deep enthusiasm, which is why i'm finally getting around to reading de lampedusa's THE LEOPARD.

[Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of quotes and history, with the author chiming in here and there about how he responds to and regards ruins. So you get tidbits like the following, about William Stukeley, who was later the first secretary of the Society of Antiquaries:

p. 130 "...his delight in the benefice was upset when he discovered that the vicars in the neighboring churches were busy whitewashing medieval frescos, removing stained glass, and installing new, pinewood pews. Stukeley's protests were in vain, and his only consolation was the news that owing to the dazzle of the new glass the Rev. Popple of St. Matin's was forced to wear dark spectacles when preaching - that, and being able to purchase a few colorful shards from the glazier who was carting away the smashed medieval glass. He installed these pieces in the windows of a mock-ruin built at the end of his garden..."

Said mock-ruin was fragile and didn't last, sadly. And that's only one of the stories of the mock ruins, along with the real ruins (of monasteries and other Catholic architecture that had been destroyed) that were scattered around the UK at the time.

There's more than just the UK covered; the section on the Roman Colosseum is fascinating. However this is an area where I began to be a bit confused with the author's idea of what a ruin is - with the overgrowth and feeling of abandonment/left to the elements gives a great atmosphere - and the concept that I have, which is that if there isn't conservation then you're not really thinking of the enjoyment of any but your own generation.

p. 68, chapter Ephesus without an Umbrella "....Read that fond, boyish letter before you visit the Baths of Caracalla and I defy you not to be saddened - and then angered - by the bathos of the scene now. ...Passing through a steel perimeter fence tourists walk on tarmac paths between metal barriers, and underneath the arches scaffolding and trenches and desultory labourers in hard hats give the ruins the air of a modern construction site. ...The mosaic is being conserved - hence the grille - but however vigorously it is scrubbed the blue-black tesserae will never shine with such brightness again.

Beside me an American family is listening to a guide's recital of dates, measurements, and social history. They are interested, and dutiful, but do they have an inkling of the excitement possible when this bare brick chamber was tumbling, scented jungle? Frustrated I wander away from the path to sit on a piece of marble and face the sunshine. A guard blows his whistle, and alerts and archeologist who is supervising the removal of an impertinent young fig-tree from the perimeter wall. Judging by their expressions, the stubby grass under my feet is as precious as a painted fresco. With a limp shrug I return to the prescribed path. Really, I want to tell them about Shelley, about Bisham Wood....I want to tell them that a ruin has two values. ..."

(I'll skip over my feelings on how judging how people are reacting to a guide is a bad way to judge their knowledge or scholarly background. I was taught that it's not particularly nice to quiz or argue with guides and that questions are often best kept til end of the tour. Also sometimes there are history students hidden amongst what appear to be "mere" tourists. It's kind of odd to read a book in which multiple folk of old make an informed Grand Tour, and then having modern folk doing the same be assumed to be tourists who don't know their history. But meh, that's my bias. I was an American that once took a Grand Tour. And part of the history I'd learned had a lot to do with archeology.)

My view is that no matter how sterile some ancient sites may seem to be once the archeologists have come in and made sure that everyone doesn't sit and step all over things (that, you know, might be ruined to the point of not being there in the distant future), the point is that with such folk tending the structure it actually might last longer. It's no good mocking those of previous centuries who let sheep graze in ruins and carried off stones to construct other buildings for not seeing the great building that was gradually being destroyed, if you're then going to then huff over archeologists and conservators changing the place so that it's not the same and thus somehow "ruining" the ruin. Picturesque is not the point for archeology.

Ok, that rant over. Note that I love a picturesque ruin myself, especially a folly or a temple, if you have the money to build that kind of thing. The book covers these sorts of folk too, laughing (understandable!) at the idea that the actual ruin isn't picturesque enough, and has to either be changed, or a new one built.

One of the things I really enjoyed most about this book was stopping to look up more information on various architects, authors, etc. There's a wealth of history in this book, but also hints that you might want to peruse more history to learn more about certain people - and I can never resist that sort of thing.

For example, describing an architect designing a folly for Lord Lyttelton's Hagley Hall:

p. 127-128 "...[Sanderson] Miller drew an impression of the castle on its wooded knoll, and a series of elevations whose raggedness he sketched with the zest of someone tearing a piece of paper. Certainly he used no compass or set-square. Construction did not begin until 1767, however, by which time Miller had gone mad."

I can't just leave things at that - I must find out more! So off to wikipedia, but under Sanderson Miller there's nothing about his madness. However the Internet Archive does have a book of his correspondence. And in an online copy of a dissertation (Sanderson Miller of Radway 1716 - 1780 Architect, Dissertation by H. W. Hawkes, 1964) is the sentence:

"Unfortunately after 1760, when Miller
suffered from an attack of insanity, he achieved little of importance."

His diaries end in 1756 (source), prior to the madness. But that's all I've found so far, but I haven't read the entire dissertation yet. (I'm still poking around online for more info.)

A more satisfying example is this one:

p. 115 "...The leading advocate of the Revival was the architect Augustus Welby Pugin, whose most easily recognized achievement is the neo-Gothic ornamentation he designed for the new Houses of Parliament. A devout Catholic polemicist who wore medieval clothes in his design studio, Pugin died hysterical and frustrated at the age of forty, in 1852."

And on Pugin's wikipedia page:

"...In February 1852, while traveling with his son Edward by train, Pugin suffered a total breakdown and arrived in London unable to recognize anyone or speak coherently. For four months he was confined to a private asylum, Kensington House. In June, he was transferred to the Royal Bethlem Hospital, popularly known as Bedlam. ...Jane [Pugin's wife] and a doctor removed Pugin from Bedlam and took him to a private house in Hammersmith where they attempted therapy, and he recovered sufficiently to recognize his wife. In September, Jane took her husband back to The Grange in Ramsgate, where he died on 14 September 1852."

There's another paragraph with theories as to what caused the illness. And this is the kind of "immediate answer to my question" that I really love.

You can see in these two examples that Woodward is giving you great little glimpses of historical information, which, if you find the person/place/etc. interesting, you can't help but want to research further. There's already quite a lot of information in the text, so I don't begrudge these little teases (you have to edit somewhere), and in fact enjoyed the read all the more for them. If I wasn't reading while near a computer and the internet I'd possibly feel differently about that. (Probably not, I'd just make a To Look Up list.)

The book's Notes section at the end is also full of many resources, and I either added books to my wish list or gleefully found them available online as free ebooks. (This is one of those dangerous books as far as adding to my To Read stacks, even if some stacks aren't taking up physical space.]

Oh and now that I've read the last:

p 251, from the Acknowledgements page: "...my book is not intended to address the practical issues of how to open archeological sites to the public but, rather, to show what a source of inspiration reuins have been in earlier centuries. Whether or not readers agree with my views is less important than if this book reminds them of their own enjoyment of ruins."

Which makes me sigh and wonder why he didn't end the earlier chapter (Ephesus without an Umbrella) with this.

Even with my annoyances with the author and his feelings towards archeological preservation, I really enjoyed this book. Intensely. It was every other page that had me stopping to look something up or see if I could find out more about an author, a historical site, or a book with further information. And it's definitely a book I plan to revisit and read portions of again.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable look at attitudes towards ruins--especially those of artists and writers. I hadn't read before about the "follies" where wealthy people had fake ruins constructed on their properties.

It is sad to read about the way ruins were treated before there was an appreciation for their historical importance--stones from the coliseum being sold off to builders, for instance.

[E. Jamieson]

All about how artists need ruins to stay in their natural state and for tourists to stay away in order to be inspired by them.

Um, honey, artists are tourists. And while archaeology is inherently destructive, it's also careful and beautiful in its own way. And those ruins are, well, ruins. They're already destroyed.

(I say this as someone who LOVES visiting archaeological sites and ruins in whatever state they're in)

I was just hoping for more nuance, but this was a pretty one-dimensional treatise.

[Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

The goal of this book, to survey various literary and artistic reactions to both the idea and reality of (mostly ancient) ruins, is an admirable one. It's also an ambitious one, and just as ruins themselves frequently demonstrate, between the idea and the reality falls the shadow. Woodward does not allot (or was not allotted by his publisher?) ample space to tackle the topic in the detail it merits, and the result is a frequently cosmetic treatment of a subject that should be explored more deeply. Despite occasional passages of lucid analysis and engaging rumination, there is a casual disconnectedness to Woodward's style that imprisons his book's potential. Reception studies is an emerging sub-field within both classics and art history, and Woodward's book proposes a study along the lines of reception: how do later generations engage with the literary and material remains of past cultures to generate their own definitions of culture? Woodward's treatments of Byron, Shelley, and various painters gesture in the direction of a fascinating reception study, but he frequently shifts gear after only getting underway. The upshot is a light study that reads easily and would be a pleasant book to have in the bag while traveling through Greece or Italy. Indeed, it may be own fault for approaching the book too studiously.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Ruins follows the same format as Schama's Landscape and Memory, grouping vignettes on painters, architects, and authors into loosely connected chapters. Woodward's prose is less defined, less artful, and more ambiguous than Schama's, and he is even less inclined to present theses and historical context for his sections. I got a fair amount of historical context from the book, but not perhaps more than this article (which covers much of the same ground and more) and while the story may have been semi-comprehensive, it is a bit jumbled. Regardless, it's a useful and readable piece of scholarship that should yield some good insights in application.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful study on the power of the fleeting yet immortal.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a pleasure to read. It taught me various interesting things; I had no idea of the extent of the craze for follies and other artificial ruins, for example, or of the various meanings given to ruins by later visitors. I'd never heard of the abandoned town of Ninfa. I especially enjoyed the references to poets inspired by ruins.

The book introduced me to various other writers and their work, as well as artists and architects and places I'd like to learn more about. (There are generous notes at the back to supplement the text and point to further reading.) The author came across as a knowledgeable and pleasant companion.

I'm ambivalent about the black-and-white reproductions of paintings. They might have been more useful as plates (either in color or black and white) on glossy paper where more of the detail could be preserved. On the other hand, they work well enough as they are; they gave me at least an idea of the art that the writer was talking about. I'm sure the book was less expensive without higher-quality reproductions, and I can't complain about something that makes it more affordable and accessible.

Also, the book is an easily handled paperback rather than a heavier book that might be harder to read while, say, eating lunch. And there's always the Internet, where I can look up not only the paintings but photographs of some of the places he talks about.

One of the most interesting things about this book is the fact that ruins aren't static but change with time. The ruins of ancient Rome, for example, no longer look the way they did when Shelley visited them and was inspired to write Prometheus Unbound. Since he was there, the ruins have passed into a different stage of their after-life. They've been cleared by archaeologists and are now groomed and secured to accommodate tourists; they're no longer surrounded by resurgent nature in the form of flowers and trees running wild. Even ruins are transient.

[Carlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in a relaxed conversational style recalling “our” predominantly Western European “romantic” attraction to ruins starting with antiquaries in sixteenth century and Rome especially the Coliseum, quoting literary and artistic historical diaries and journals, followed by a short chapter on the surrounding campagna with personal anecdotes.
Woodward distinguishes between an artistic response to ruins as emotionally engaging as “half empty” and Hitler’s exaltation of Roman ruins as the “half full” attraction to millenia lasting monuments of Empire.
Further chapters explore haunted houses with Byron, Italian ruins with Shelley, ruins as a metaphor for the decay of individual life, brilliant chapters about the changing sensibility for monastic ruins following the English Reformation and the successful English architect Sir John Soanes’ interest in ruins, culminating in his leaving his specially constructed London house (filled to display his collection of antiquities and art) as a museum to the nation under an Act of Parliament on the proviso that as far as possible it is to be left unchanged.
There is a chapter considering the “Ozymandias Complex” which playfully considers artists and writers feelings of the temporary nature of empire and success. Another considering responses to ruins created by war, referencing national responses to the destruction of the Second World War, especially John Piper’s paintings, and W G Sebald’s response to the military ruins at Orfordness.
The book concludes with the author’s praise for:
• Rose Macaulay’s The World My Wilderness and The Pleasure of Ruins;
• John Harris’s No Voices from the Hall (one of my favourite books); and
• Lampedusa’s The Leopard.
The book evolves from its more formal first chapter to become more personal, subjective and impressionistic, which works well for me. It very much captures its author’s love of and appreciation of the aesthetic effect of ruins. It reassures that there are others whose sensibilities resonate with ruins and fruitfully explores that response.
I enjoyed it.

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruins..we take them for granted somehow, yet if we look and think they are pregnant with meaning and insight for us in our short sojourns. That is sort of the theme of 'In Ruins' which is both a diverting and educational read! Written by a museum curator in England it is a tour not just of various ruins but a journey into their legacy, meaning and influence through history. Or at least history as viewed through the prism of modern, liberal western thought. It is a somewhat limited view focusing mostly on the fall of Rome and how that was viewed during several periods of western thought, much of it emerging during what is called the Romantic era (~1798-1837). A secondary focus is on English medieval ruins (Gothic) mainly the many monasteries looted and destroyed by Henry VIII (at least 800 according to the author) upon his rupture with the Catholic Church. This is not a technical or even architectural survey of ruins around the world but more about how their very existence has influenced literature, art and other modes of thought and expression over time. There are numerous (italics) artistic and literary references which I found interesting and several books were added to my 'want to read list' in response to references in this short but thoughtful book. Among them 'Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb' by François-René de Chateaubriand who wrote in the 1700s. Also Mary Shelley's 'The Last Man' and Percy Bryce Shelley's 'Prometheus Unbound'. There is an interesting reference section at the end providing insight into the inspiration(s) that resulted in this fine book.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book enjoyable but frustrating. As advertised, it is a pastiche of historical vignettes, synopses of literary works, and diaristic anecdotes, but even so it would have benefited from stronger or more consistent organization. I often found myself craving lengthier exposition or clearer or more graceful transitions between subsections. The flashes of theory or deeper interpretive analysis (e.g., Pp. 120-121 on the relationship between Picturesque aesthetics and the philosophy of association) were tantalizing but too brief, few, and far between. Having said that, it is admittedly churlish to fault an author for not writing the book I wanted him to write, and Woodward acquits himself just fine within the bounds of what he ostensibly set out to do. The perspective is strongly Anglocentric, and while this is not necessarily a shortcoming, it was not what I expected for some reason.

[mxd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely meandering, romantic and soft lens look at the way ruins inspire us. Woodward uses the subjects of art, literature and poetry as examples of works that have depicted, recorded, and been inspired by various ruins. He also talks from experiences, picking out structures that have stuck with him, and delves into what it is that draws us to the remains of great buildings. Ozymandias obviously made an appearance in the book, by which time I was waiting for it, and pleased to read it. A genteel and relaxing read.

Read also -

So this book made me think of London Under by Peter Ackroyd which takes a similar strolling approach to its subject, moving quick from one sight to another.

[Nat]

I have dropped so many "I want to go here" pins on google maps as a result of reading this: The Gardens of Ninfa, south of Rome (look it up!), Virginia Water, out by Heathrow, where apparently there are pillars dragged from Leptis Magna in Libya set up as a faux ruin; Orford Ness, a cold war ruin with bunkers where the British tested the triggers for nuclear weapons on the Suffolk coast that is now part of the National Trust...

[Kodiaksm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book forced me to learn more about ruins and English history. The author assumes the reader has considerable knnowledge of his subject matter. It was challenging to stay with the book because it took a considerable amount of extra time to research ruins, authors etc. in order to learn and enjoy this read.

[Edward Amato · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the cover and the subjects of art ruin and literature; ergo I read the book. Despite many lovely nuggets of interest for further study I found that there was little order to the book and the author went higgeldy -piggeldy from one point to the other. Loved the used of illustrations and the author has a great knowledge of architectural history.

[Peter Herrmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Merits 5-stars for research and literary & descriptive quality, but you probably have to already be a big fan of ruins to appreciate this book. Am not, myself, especially in love with ruins. (Although I do love haunted houses - for painting and for creepy stories). So, I fairly quickly lost interest in the material in this book, and so demoted it 1-star. But others might appreciate it more.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Wonderful niche book on this subject. Certainly good reading if off to Rome or Athens.

"... he fled the present day, escaping modern society and its speeding carriages to find a lonely solace in the fragments he could rescue from Time's shipwreck."

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best book i read all year. not only that but first my brother then my dad stole it to read and i finally got it back! just the most beautiful writing and so packed with knowledge and ideas. Exactly what a great nonfiction book ought to be. Bravo Christopher Woodward!

[Polly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how this book dwelled deeply in the arts and writings of ruins. Giving lots of space to poetry and atmospheres and contradictions. I'm sure there's more to say on future ruins and poor peoples' view of ruins but maybe Woodward can write an update.

[Peter Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an unusual book- a meditation and study of ruins and how they have affected artists and writers throughout the centuries.It shows wonderful knowledge but is probably best suited to architectural students and those of an artistic bent.Well written and in a way captivating

[Corey James Soper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly pretentious gamble around Europe's ruins and a meditation on their aesthetic and philosophical shadows. Oddly delightful.

[Michael Coblenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked, but did not love.

[John O · Rating 5 out of 5]

Invaluable handbook for any neo Romantic

[Emma Beveridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it very thought provoking