Iconoclasm is not a barbaric act which takes place somewhere else but is instead a central strand of Anglo-American modernity. Our horror at the destruction of art derives in part from the fact that we did, and still do, that. This is most obviously true of England's iconoclastic century between 1538 and 1643, which stands at the core of this book.

Summary: Iconoclasm is not a barbaric act which takes place somewhere else but is instead a central strand of Anglo-American modernity. Our horror at the destruction of art derives in part from the fact that we did, and still do, that. This is most obviously true of England's iconoclastic century between 1538 and 1643, which stands at the core of this book.

what makes this book worth reading is its focus on ... the "exhaustion" of the ceaseless struggle to escape the image since the Protestant Reformation. ... What is compelling about all of this is that even though one might take issue, as a specialist, with certain of Simpson's readings of history or historical texts and objects, it reminds us to be vigilant against our own scholarly idols and our tendency to view the iconoclastic impulse as Other.