History of Celebrity does what it says on the tin, starting from Byron and the growing class society of the 17th century and ending up, logically enough with today’s instant but throwaway reality TV starlets. As described by Inglis the phases and progression of the celebrity sphere are perfectly logical and ordered – the result of technology, commerce, class and politics. His ease of writing belies the clearly thought out order of this grand journey.

So for example, we all know that JF Kennedy was the result of the birth of TV. Or rather he is intrinsically linked with the new medium and has set the tone for future presidents. Before him Roosevelt and his fireside chats used radio to great effect. But before this still the studio system and the upcoming newspaper magnates were the logical result of affluence, of technology and our need to have models of society but also scoundrels.

Inglis comes at this history from a largely academic standpoint, but the result is, although a bit stuffy, rather successful. He traces how early celebrities were purely based on talent – a great writer, sportsman, poet or explorer. Then they morphed into those with wealth or connections (royal princes and dukes being a favourite) and then again into notoriety – Byron and Rooney being the classic examples. Talent and riches are no longer a pre-requisite of fame.

The section on Big Politics was especially revealing, Big Politics being the mid-century spectacles of mass demonstrations. The Nazi rallies, the Italian Fascists, the Russian walkpasts but also the American political rallies and demonstrations. It is this point when the dictators became the celebrities of choice, both of love and hatred. And this trend has continued with our politicians being images of themselves in order to succeed. Blair and Obama are perhaps good examples here. We still have versions of the above, but it is more about what it looks like on TV. The balloons, tickertape and banners at a US election rally are there to look good on the small screen – not for the benefit of the participants on the ground.

Of course there are gaps in this celebrity journey but it is a short history, and we all have our favourite celebs that we grew up with or that we feel is important. Marilyn Monroe, to my mind gets a fairly short entry. But this is necessary and correct and to Inglis’s credit. It is the modern side of things that Inglis does not fully embrace. His academic manner finally breaks down and he needs to be less snobby (no other word will do) about reality TV and its temporarily famous output. Not to say that reality stuff is good, but that it needs to be discussed in the same logical terms as Byron, who at the time received the same scorn. The timing of Big Brother, for example was the result of technological advances in cameras, then lapped up as cheap and plentiful TV filler.

And that leads this reviewer to his chief gripe. The cover is uninspiring, academic and dull. No one will pick this book up. What is clearly needed is a mock Hello style cover – it will fly off the central stacks at Waterstones. I can imagine a few reasons why the current cover was approved and went out. One, the author defined it and it seemed to fit his writing style. Two, the design team had ten minutes to get a cover done. Three they were going for that academic, non popular audience – after all the publisher is Princeton.

This is a good book – let the cover reflect this quality, but also that the subject is something that we are all interested in. After all fame today is all about the superficial cover – its not usually about the content.

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